UN:V   RSITY  OF 

CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


\   v^.^. 


,4rA-<.,.^    S^vH-vs-wK,    '^-tifc-W.r-^'( 


presented  to  the 
UNIVERSITY  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SAN  DIEGO 

by 

Joan  Jensen 


BOLSHEVISM; 
ITS  CURE 


BY 

DAVID  GOLDSTEIN 
MARTHA  MOORE  AVERY 


PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON     SCHOOL    OF    POLITICAL    ECONOMY 

468  MASSACHUSETTS  AVENUE 

BOSTON,   MASS. 


COPYBIGHT,    1919 
AVERY     AND     GOLDSTEIN 


ALL    RIGHTS    RESERVED 


TO  THE  KNIGHTS  OF  COLUMBUS 

IN   RECOGNITION   OF   ITS   WOBLD-FAMED  WAR 
WORK 

IN  APPRECIATION   OF   ITS   FAR-SIGHTED   EDUCATIONAL 

CAMPAIGN    DEFENDING    FAITH    AND    FATHERLAND 

AGAINST  THE   ASSAULT   OF   SOCIALISM 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.arcliive.org/details/bolslievismitscurOOgoldiala 


INTRODUCTION 

We  were  so  early  in  the  field  comtating  International 
Socialism  that  it  was  a  whole  decade  before  the  first 
edition  of  our  book,  Socialism:  The  Nation  of  Father- 
less Children  (1903),  secured  much  of  any  notice,  al- 
though it  was  highly  commended  by  our  then  President 
Roosevelt,  Samuel  Gompers,  His  Eminence  Cardinal 
O'Connell  and  other  men  vigorously  interested  in  the 
relief  of  the  masses  as  against  the  oppression  of  many 
masters  of  industry.  Later  editions  were  given  a  rather 
wide  reading  —  50,000  copies  having  been  circulated. 

After  we  entered  the  world-war  we  thought,  perhaps, 
the  movement  to  run  up  the  red  flag  over  every  capitol 
in  the  world  had  spent  its  projective  force.  But  the 
Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat  in  Russia  gave  dire  proof 
that  its  full  fury  had  not  until  then  broke  loose  in  any 
nation  and  recalled  to  us  an  obligation  to  our  country 
and  our  faith  that  could  not  in  conscience  be  denied. 
In  the  days  long  gone,  when  we  were  neither  Catholics 
nor  reasoning  rightly  as  to  historic  testimony,  we  were 
under  that  hallucination  that  sets  many  faces  to  look  the 
wrong  way  for  the  right  thing  —  equitable  social  rela- 
tionships. At  length,  being  forced  to  the  understanding 
that  Marxians  hold  a  philosophy  quite  at  variance  with 
sound  principles  and  to  practises  contrary  to  moral  re- 
quirements we  withdrew  early  in  nineteen  hundred  from 


iv  INTRODUCTION 

the  Socialist  movement  after  a  long  and  futile  attempt  to 
persuade  the  party  to  repudiate  its  socially  disruptive 
doctrines. 

Indeed  it  was  not  a  blissful  experience  but  it  was 
wholesome  at  last  to  learn  that  the  stability  and  peace 
of  nations  is  based  upon  a  recognition  of  what  God 
intended  the  state  to  be,  not  upon  any  man-made  scheme 
that  departs  from  the  Ten  Commandments. 

We  have  come  to  know  that  the  Encyclical  of  Pope 
Leo  XIII  —  The  Condition  of  the  Working  Class  — 
written  in  1891  gives  the  right  direction  to  the  efforts  of 
those  who  would  reconcile  the  two  rival  camps  called 
capital  and  labor.  To  plant  the  Cross  of  Christ  between 
the  two  armies  is  but  the  beginning  of  the  work  to  save 
nations.  So  that  we  send  forth  —  Bolshevism:  Its  Cure 
—  in  the  hope  that  all  those  who  love  Old  Glory  better 
than  the  red  flag  will  give  heed  to  the  essential  differ- 
ence between  those  who  would  work  the  will  of  the 
Marxian  destroyers  and  those  who  would  give  to  our  own 
dearly  beloved  Columbia  what  is  due  to  her  under  God. 

A  glance  at  our  table  of  contents  will  reveal  the  struc- 
ture of  the  book,  that  it  is  grounded  upon  truth,  natural 
and  revealed,  thus  setting  up  the  standards  by  which 
to  make  correct  judgments.  The  contents  will  show  how 
vast  a  field  is  covered  by  this  movement,  generally 
known  as  Socialism,  that  in  its  latest  phases  is  now  called 
Bolshevism.  Since  Socialism  is  alleged  to  be  a  philoso- 
phy of  life  that  takes  its  rise  in  a  so-called  scientific  un- 
derstanding of  the  economic  relationships  of  man  to 
man,  it  is  our  purpose  to  show  the  wide  spreading  activ- 


INTEODUCTION  ▼ 

ities  of  this  movement  that  it  may  never  take  on  in  this 
country  its  final  phase  of  red  ruin  as  in  Russia.  Our 
expectation  is  that  robust  Americanism  will  call  a  halt 
to  this  force  of  destruction  before  it  tramples  law  and 
order  under  foot.  It  is  not  surprising  that  the  public 
mind  has  long  been  and  still  is  in  a  state  of  confusion 
as  to  what  Socialism-Bolshevism  is,  for  its  subject  mat- 
ter is  truly  too  vast  to  be  confined  within  a  given  sphere 
of  social  activity.  Its  meaning  can  be  seen  only  by  a 
synthetic  view  of  things  human  for  the  simple  reason 
that  it  contemplates  a  complete  overthrowing  of  the 
Christian  civilization  that  was  builded  upon  the  down- 
fall of  the  Pagan  authority  of  Greece  and  Rome.  Once 
again,  it  would  have  a  state  where  God  is  unknown; 
where  human  will  is  responsible  only  to  human  author- 
ity; where  justice  is  this  to-day  and  that  to-morrow. 

We  begin  by  showing  that  the  deep  springs  of  its  ac- 
tion lie  in  rebellion,  in  atheistic  materialism;  that  its 
world  force  is  drawn  up  in  hostile  array  to  Christian 
civilization;  that  its  philosophy  and  its  psychology 
vitiate  every  mind  and  every  organization  that  gives 
it  a  sympathetic  service,  that  within  the  four  grand 
divisions  of  human  society,  namely,  the  domestic  sphere, 
the  social  sphere,  the  political  sphere  and  the  economic 
sphere,  no  department  escapes  its  mental  and  moral 
blight. 

The  two  world  powers  of  construction  and  destruc- 
tion are  placed  in  contrast  one  to  the  other  and  the  op- 
posing standards  of  Faith  and  Fatalism  make  it  clear 
to  logical  minds  that  order  as  opposed  to  chaos  rests  upon 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

the  belief  in  Almighty  God  and  in  obedience  to  His 
commands.  We  show  that  the  structure  of  human  so- 
ciety is  sound  and  yet  sounder  in  so  far  as  right-reason 
is  obeyed  and  man's  love  for  man  is  made  manifest,  and 
that,  society  is  sick  and  yet  sicker  in  so  far  as  it  takes 
Socialist  remedies,  since  reconstruction  upon  solid  prin- 
ciples is  not  its  object  but  rather  the  complete  destruc- 
tion of  the  private  ownership  of  capital  and  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  wage  system. 

Having  set  down  as  philosophical  opposites  the  Chris- 
tian principles  of  moral  responsibility  as  against  the  So- 
cialist principles  of  irresponsibility,  we  pass  to  those 
of  might  as  against  right.  Good  and  evil  are  affairs 
of  the  heart  —  one  sound  the  other  diseased  —  but  might 
as  against  right  is  seen  in  the  deeds  of  men.  It  is  be- 
cause irreligion  is  now  so  common  as  to  supply  a  great 
and  growing  host  of  men  who  are  subject  to  a  still  fur- 
ther undermining  of  their  morale  that  upon  the  domain 
of  Caesar  the  Socialist-Bolsheviki  can  raise  so  great 
a  tumult,  here,  there  and  everywhere.  The  perversity 
of  their  long  time  propaganda  in  undermining  love  and 
loyalty  to  our  home-land  is  set  forth  at  some  length  and 
brought  up  to  date  by  citing  their  treasonable  efforts 
during  the  world-war.  We  then  pass  on  to  the  some- 
what obscure  struggle  between  those  who  stand  for  right 
as  against  wrong  upon  the  broad  field  of  education  and 
artistic  culture.  Here,  indeed,  their  most  insidious 
efforts  are  greatly  rewarded.  Their  atheist  philosophy 
is  leavening  the  whole  lump  of  so-called  free  thought 
with  a  Pagan  view  of  things  human  as  relentless  as  it 


INTRODUCTIOlSr  vii 

is  cruel.  It  is  as  truly  a  culture  of  sense  perception 
as  was  that  of  degenerate  Rome  under  the  rule  of  Nero. 
When  the  facts  are  pointed  out  to  them,  we  must  assume 
that  even  those  men  and  women  who  love  God  but  lit- 
tle and  their  country  much  will  take  pause  to  consider 
that  Godless  education  leads  to  an  utter  breakdown  of 
patriotism  and  so  to  the  necessary  conclusion  that  once 
love  of  country  is  gone  there  is  no  binding  force  of  loy- 
alty in  any  land. 

Having  sketched  their  several  modes  of  propagating 
their  doctrine  we  come  to  the  thing  objectively  —  to 
Bolshevism  itself ;  which  term  is  only  another  name  for 
Socialism  in  operation  upon  a  national  scale. 

Here  we  show  the  so-called  scientific  tests  by  which  to 
recognize  the  Socialist  regime  in  Russia  by  its  deter- 
mination to  overthrow  the  principles  of  just  govern- 
ment ;  by  denying  the  right  of  private  property  and  by 
permitting  only  one  class  —  the  working  class  —  to  take 
part  in  its  administration  of  affairs. 

Coming  back  to  sane  and  lofty  deeds  of  faith  in  God 
and  loyalty  to  country  we  make  final  pause,  knowing  we 
have  done  what  we  could  for  God  and  fatherland. 

Well  aware  of  the  terrible  indictment  we  bring  against 
the  Bolsheviki  we  have  permitted  them  to  convict  them- 
selves by  the  use  of  their  own  data,  quoting  only  such 
authorities  as  may  not  with  truth  be  denied  a  national 
and  international  leadership  amongst  them. 

Here  and  there  we  have  paid  some  little  attention  to 
a  popular  writer  who,  while  preaching  the  selfsame 
philosophy  that  Lenin  and  Trotsky  are  practising,  dis- 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

claims  all  responsibility,  as  Marxians,  for  the  horrors  of 
the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  in  Russia.  It  is  our 
hope  that  such  a  one  may  come  to  see  how  ludicrously 
inconsistent  such  an  attempt  is  in  those  who  appeal  to 
the  principle  of  cause  and  effect  for  the  facts  in  the 
case. 

To  our  many  friends  throughout  the  country  who  have 
sent  us  kind  acknowledgments  of  the  usefulness  of  our 
book  —  Socialism:  The  Nation  of  Fatherless  Children 
—  we  recommend  Bolshevism:  Its  Cure  as  practically 
adapted  to  give  information  and  argument  to  educators, 
editors,  writers  and  speakers,  a  fair  view  of  the  dangers 
to  our  country  of  Bolshevism,  and  a  strong  indication 
that  one  must  look  the  right  way  for  the  right  thing  — 
Its  Cure. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION iii 

CHAPTER 

L    TWO  WORLD  POWERS 1 

"  The  Black  International  " 13 

The  Red  International 14 

II.  STANDARDS   OF   FAITH   AND   OF   FATAL- 
ISM         28 

Civil  Society 31 

Social  Intercourse 32 

The  Commercial  Sphere 34 

The  Domestic  Sphere 37 

SocuLiSM  Denies  the  Marriage  Bond     ...  66 

SocuLiSM    Asserts    Sex   Freedom     ....  67 

Socialists  Advocate  Free  Love 70 

SocuLisM  Promotes  Easy  Dfvorce     ....  71 

HI.    PATRIOTISM 78 

The  Hierarchy's  Call 101 

Cardinal  Gibbons 103 

Cardinal  Farley 103 

Cardinal  O'Connell 104 

War  Itself 107 

"  To  Whom  Shall  We  Go?  " 115 

IV.    THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER  OR  THE 

RED  FLAG 119 

Children  Cast  Off  the  American  Flag  .     .     .  137 
Innocence  and  Guilt 139 

V.    WOULD  CORRUPT  THE  ARMY  AND  THE 

NAVY 149 

"  SocuLiST  Crippling  of  Warships  "  .     .     .     .  166 

The  Dick  Military  Law 167 

Citizen  Army 178 


CONTENTS 

CHAFTEB  FAOK 

Making  Perverts  of  Soldiers 186 

Soldiers  Barred  from  Membership    ....  195 

Experience  in  Coup  D'Etat  that  Failed     .     .  199 

The  Ballot  Too  Slow 202 

VI.    BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS 211 

Inter-Collegiate  Socialist  Society  ....  213 

Rand  School 221 

Teachers'  Bureau 226 

High  Schools 230 

Young  Peoples  Socialist  League     ....  234 

Boy  Scouts 236 

Socialist    Sunday    Schools 256 

Modern  Schools 256 

Francisco  Ferrer 256 

Ferrer  Schools 277 

Public  and  Parochla.l  Schools 280 

Vn.    BOLSHEVISM   ITSELF 296 

What  is  Bolshevism  ? 302 

The  Class  Struggle 303 

Class-less  Society 308 

The  Socialist  State 316 

Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat 321 

Demiocracy 326 

Paris  Commune 329 

Soviets 337 

Expropriating  the  Expropriators       ....  843 

Free  Speech  —  Free  Press 358 

Marital  Relationship 364 

An  Unaccepted  Challenge 368 

All-Russian  Constitution  on  Divorce  .     .      .  372 

World  Revolution 376 

Prophecy 383 

Violence 386 

VIII.    THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR 395 

Pope  and  Belgium 405 

The  Pope  and  Italy 409 


BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

I 

TWO  WOKLD  POWERS 

THE  members  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  its  coun- 
terfeit organizations  —  Communism  —  Socialism 
—  Bolshevism  —  are  now  coming  to  grips.  Civiliza- 
tion may  indeed  be  thrown  back  into  chaos  ere  this  evil 
association  spends  its  force,  but  it  is  certain  that  so 
long  as  men  shall  live  on  earth  the  Church  of  Christ 
will  be  here  to  call  sinners  to  repentance  that  they  may 
spend  their  immortal  life  in  Heaven.  Of  course,  it  is 
not  sufficient  for  the  support  of  civilization  that  citizens 
may  merely  know  the  action  of  these  opposing  forces 
but  also,  or  rather,  that  there  shall,  at  least,  be  found 
ten  men  to  serve  Caesar  for  the  love  of  God. 

For  half  a  century  the  world  has  been  warned  that 
life  was  becoming  intolerable  to  those  who  stand  for 
social  justice  as  against  the  men  who  lust  for  power  and 
riches.  Pope  Leo  XIII  sent  out  the  warning  and  the 
true  remedy.  Socialism  sent  out  the  demand  that  pri- 
vate property  should  cease  to  exist  because  the  Deca- 
logue was  outworn.  But  the  world  would  not  listen,  it 
went  its  way,  while  the  tide  of  just  resentment  by  those 
who  love  the  right  and  hate  the  wrong  crept  higher! 


2  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Meantime  the  cries  of  the  masses  for  justice  and  mercy 
were  mingled  with  the  blasphemies  that  cursed  God, 
whom  they  deny,  and  His  Church  that  they  know  not. 
It  was  just  prior  to  the  world  conflict  that  America  was 
assured  by  the  report  o£  the  President  Emeritus  of  Har- 
vard, who  had  taken  a  swing  around  the  world,  at  the 
hest  of  the  Carnegie  Foundation,  that  all  was  well  — 
that  war  was  afar  off. 

But  though  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly,  there  comes 
the  time  when  Eternal  Justice  is  seen  to  have  in  keep- 
ing the  fate  of  nations  as  well  as  the  conscience  of  men. 

'No,  we  have  no  need  to  cite  the  horrors  of  the  past 
four  years  of  the  world-war ;  but  rather  the  great  need 
to  fairly  face  the  future  that  the  Bolsheviki  would  pre- 
pare for  the  peoples  of  the  earth.  Otherwise  our  joy  at 
the  signing  of  the  armistice  by  Germany  on  I^Tovember 
the  eleventh,  nineteen-eighteen,  may  be  merely  a  passing 
event.  For  the  underlying  forces  in  human  society  that 
make  for  peace  and  war  are  as  conspicuous  to-day  as 
they  were  before  the  dogs  of  war  were  let  loose  upon  an 
unoffending  neighbor.  As  Christ  and  Caiphas,  right 
faces  might  in  its  effort  to  persuade  men  of  good  will 
to  put  into  practise  those  just  principles  that  are  above 
the  guarantee  of  an  enduring  peace  between  nation  and 
nation  —  between  man  and  man.  But,  above  and  below 
these  national  forces  that  have  spent  their  blood  and 
their  treasure  in  offensive  and  defensive  action,  two  or- 
ganizations of  world-wide  proportions  —  The  Catholic 
Church  and  the  International  Socialist  movement  — 
have  stood  out  so  prominently  during  the  recent  conflict 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  3 

that  men  with  ears  heretofore  closed  to  the  sacred  voice 
of  the  one  as  against  the  materialistic  assertions  of  the 
other  are  coming  to  see  that  civilization  itself  is  on  the 
scales  ready  to  be  tipped  over  into  chaos  if  the  powerful 
and  the  rich  will  not  return  to  those  neighborly  relations 
demanded  by  the  Author  of  Nations. 

When  the  fatal  shot  struck  down  the  heir  to  the  throne 
of  Austria,  Pius  X,  knowing  the  temper  of  all  Europe, 
implored  in  vain  that  they  would  stay  their  slaughter. 
But  the  din  of  war  drowned  out  the  voice  of  the  Vicar 
of  Christ  and  with  the  clash  of  arms  came  the  death  — 
broken-hearted  —  of  this  holy  man  seated  upon  the 
throne  of  the  Fisherman :  "  Now  I  begin  to  think  as  the 
end  is  approaching,  that  the  Almighty  in  His  inexhaust- 
ible goodness  wishes  to  spare  me  the  horrors  Europe  is 
undergoing  " —  were  the  passing  words  of  Pius  X  — 
"  The  children's  Pope." 

When  Benedict  XV  had  ascended  the  pontifical  throne 
his  first  Encyclical  set  forth  the  causes  of  the  world-war 
and  the  remedies  needed  to  compose  differences : 

"  Now  when  from  the  height  of  this  Apostolic  dignity, 
We  can,  as  if  at  one  glance,  contemplate  the  course  of 
hiunan  events,  and  when  We  see  before  Us  the  miserable 
conditions  of  civil  society  We  are  affected  with  acute  sorrow. 
And  how  could  We,  as  the  common  Father  of  all  men,  not 
be  sorely  troubled  at  the  sight  of  Europe,  and,  indeed,  of 
the  whole  world  —  the  most  terrible  and  most  painful  spec- 
tacle perhaps  that  has  ever  been  presented  in  the  course  of 
history?  We  warmly  beseech  rulers  and  Governments  to 
consider  the  tears  and  the  blood  already  shed  and  to  hasten  to 
restore  to  the  people  the  precious  blessings  of  peace.     May 


4  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  merciful  God  grant  that,  as  on  the  appearance  of  the 
Divine  Redeemer  upon  the  earth,  so  at  the  beginning  of  Our 
duty  as  His  Vicar,  the  angels'  voices  may  proclaim  '  Peace 
on  earth  to  men  of  good  will'  (Luke  ii,  14),  and  We  pray 
that  they  may  listen  who  have  in  their  hands  the  destinies 
of  States.  Assuredly  there  are  other  ways  and  other  methods 
by  which  justice  can  be  done  to  injured  rights.  Let  the 
belligerents,  laying  down  their  arms,  have  recourse  to  these, 
animated  by  good  faith  and  intention.  It  is  through  love 
of  them  and  of  all  nations  and  not  from  any  motive  of  Our 
own  that  We  speak.  Let  them  not,  then,  permit  Our  friendly 
and  paternal  voice  to  be  raised  in  vain. 

"  But  it  is  not  merely  the  sanguinary  war  which  darkens 
passions  and  troubles  and  embitters  Our  spirit.  There  is 
another  furious  war  which  eats  at  the  entrails  of  modern 
society  —  a  war  which  terrifies  every  person  of  good  sense, 
because  whilst  it  has  accumulated,  and  wiU  accumulate  ruin 
amongst  nations,  it  contains  in  itself  the  seeds  of  the  present 
disastrous  struggle.  From  the  moment  when  the  rules  and 
practises  of  Christian  wisdom  ceased  to  be  observed  in 
States  —  rules  and  practises  which  alone  guarantee  the  sta- 
bility and  peace  of  institutions  —  these  States  necessarily 
began  to  tremble  at  their  foundations,  and  there  followed 
such  a  change  in  ideas  and  customs  that,  if  God  does  not 
soon  intervene,  it  appears  as  if  the  dissolution  of  human 
society  is  at  hand. 

"  The  disorders  that  have  arisen  are : 

"  1st.  Want  of  mutual  love  amongst  men; 

"  2nd.  Contempt  for  authority; 

"  3rd.  Injustice  in  the  relations  between  the  different 
classes  of  society; 

"  4th.  Material  welfare  made  the  only  object  of  man's  ac- 
tivity (as  if  there  were  not  other  and  much  more  desirable 
blessings  to  be  gained). 

"  These,  in  Our  opinion,  are  the  four  causes  why  human 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  5 

society  is  so  greatly  disturbed.  It  is  necessary  then  that 
energy  be  exercised  generally  for  the  purpose  of  removing 
such  disorders  and  restoring  Christian  principles,  if  the  ob- 
ject is  to  put  an  end  to  discord  and  compose  differences." 

The  world  knows  that  this  appeal  to  those  "  who  have 
in  their  hands  the  destinies  of  States  "  was  not  heeded. 
But,  our  Father  Almighty  has  a  way  to  compel  a  hear- 
ing. Like  as  the  "  Scourge  of  God  "  swept  down  upon 
a  decaying  Pagan  culture  so  has  Bolshevism  risen  like 
a  high  tide  inundating  the  despotic  lust  of  power  that 
had  for  centuries  held  captive  the  right  of  the  Vicar  of 
Christ  to  rule  over  His  children  in  Russia.  Its  flood 
swept  over  into  the  land  of  Luther  where  the  false  prin- 
ciple of  Higher  Criticism  had  long  since  ripened  into 
the  atheist  assent  that  right  is  the  creature  of  might. 
Then  came  the  recognition  by  those  in  whose  hands  are 
the  destinies  of  States  that  their  foe  within  was  a  force 
that  must  be  reckoned  with  and  the  hand  of  European 
suicide  was  stayed.  Yet,  not  before  our  own  America 
had  played  so  glorious  a  part  in  the  world  conflict  that 
—  Columbia  must  henceforth  be  given  a  powerful  voice 
in  winning  for  the  subject  peoples  their  right  to  a  self- 
determined  government. 

As  it  should  be,  after  a  fall  when  self-will  has  left 
us  bruised,  battered  and  burnt,  that  reflecting  upon  the 
right  and  the  wrong  of  the  world  conflict  we  are  able  to 
see  the  conduct  of  Christ  and  Caiphas  as  a  warning 
that  God  is  not  mocked  —  that  in  His  own  good  time, 
through  the  conflict  of  right  with  might,  men  come 
face  to  face  with  first  principles.     If  nations  will  not 


6  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

correct  the  contempt  for  authority  by  an  impartial  ruling 
of  justice ;  if  they  will  not  institute  the  reign  of  equity 
upon  the  field  of  commerce,  then  that  "  furious  war 
which  eats  at  the  vitals  of  modem  society  "  will  not  stop 
at  the  eastern  shore  of  the  Atlantic,  but  set  up  its  reign 
of  terror  on  our  own  soil  and  overspread  the  world. 

Truly  both  reason  and  experience  attest  that  He  that 
is  not  with  Me  is  against  Me.  So  must  we  choose !  !Not 
as  between  Christ  and  Caesar,  but  between  Christ  and 
Caiphas  —  for  we  are  bound  to  love  and  serve,  at  once, 
both  God  and  Country.  The  time  of  reckoning  seems 
not  afar  off.  For  the  choice  is  not  now  between  na- 
tional existence  with  God  merely  left  out,  but  rather 
between  national  extinction  and  the  restoration  of 
Christian  principles  with  their  application  to  all  the 
affairs  of  the  classes  and  the  masses.  In  one  word,  the 
choice  of  those  who  wield  unjust  power  and  exploit 
the  poor  with  ill-gotten  gains,  is  to  make  restitution  or 
to  be  caught  with  all  of  us  in  the  on-rush  of  the  men 
who  will  not  serve  God,  neither  Country  nor  Master. 

The  issue  is  clearly  seen  by  those  who  with  super- 
natural light  observe  the  character  building  of  men  and 
of  nations  as  they  are  ground  betwixt  the  upper  and 
nether  millstone.  Pope  Leo  XIII  covered  the  whole 
ground  of  this  irresponsible  power  and  pointed  out  the 
necessity  of  Christian  Democracy,  if  civil  society  were 
to  survive  the  oncoming  shock.  As  against  this  re- 
ligious power,  of  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  is  the  Liv- 
ing  Visible   Head,    the  opposing  force,    Communism 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  7 

—  Socialism  —  Bolshevism  is  arrayed.  We  shall  per- 
mit Vladimir  Llitch  TJlianoff  —  Nickolai  Lenin  —  in 
Soviets  at  Work,  to  give  the  warrant  for  using  Com- 
munism, Socialism,  or  Bolshevism  as  these  three  shades 
of  meaning  are  required,  since  his  dictum  rests  pre- 
cisely upon  the  principles  of  the  Communist  Manifesto 
that  have  since  1848  supplied  the  ground  for  what  is 
generally  known  as  "  Scientific  Socialism." 

"  The  Bolsheviks  —  formerly  a  faction  within  the  Social- 
Democratic  Labor  Party,  have  recently  changed  their  name 
to  Communist  Party  to  distinguish  themselves  from  4he  other 
Social-Democratic  groups. 

"  The  terms  Bolsheviks  and  Mensheviks  date  back  to  1903, 
when  at  a  congress  of  the  Russian  Social-Democratic  Labor 
Party  a  difference  arose  on  a  seemingly  unimportant  question 
(editorial  supervision  of  the  party  organ),  when  upon  a  vote 
which  decided  the  question  there  naturally  was  a  majority 
and  minority.  Those  who  were  with  the  majority  were 
nicknamed  Bolsheviks  and  those  with  the  minority  Menshe- 
viks, deriving  their  names  from  the  Russian  words  Bol- 
shinstvo  and  Menshinstvo,  meaning  majority  and  minority 
respectively." 

Socialists  know  very  well  that  to  de-Catholicize  the 
people  means  the  de-Christianization  of  the  world.  But, 
to  de-Christianize  the  world  were  the  triumph  of  his  Sa- 
tanic Majesty.  Be  it  so!  and  they  sing  a  hymn  in 
honor  of  that  first  and  greatest  rebellion  against  the 
Giver  of  Life  (the  Rebel,  Socialist  weekly,  Halletsville, 
Texas,  Oct.  21,  1916)  : 


8  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

A  PEAYER  TO  LUCIFER 
By  Covington  Hall 

Mighty  Spirit !     Lord  of  Light ! 
Beautiful  and  brave  and  bright! 
Rather  than  in  Heaven  crawl, 
Give  me  strength  with  Thee  to  fall ! 

Glorious,  unconquered  Chief, 
Warring  on  through  years  of  grief. 
Give  me  strength  to  share  Thy  load, — 
Let  me  die  on  freedom's  road! 

Rebel  Leader,  true  as  steel, 
Thou  who  hast  refused  to  kneel, 
Hated  by  King,  Priest  and  Slave, 
Give  me  strength  to  be  as  brave ! 

Mighty  Spirit,  strong  and  bright! 
Splendid  Bearer  of  the  Light ! 
Oversoul  of  liberty, 
Up  the  pathway  of  the  free, 
Give  me  strength  to  follow  Thee! 

From  this  dictum  they  argue, —  thus  only  one  world- 
force  would  remain,  and  that  power  would  be  under 
the  control  of  Socialism.  However,  we  may  let  the 
Chairman  of  the  International  Socialist  Bureau  (Emil 
Vandevelde)  set  forth  their  official  opinion: 

"  It  is  an  indubitable  fact  that,  notwithstanding  appear- 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  9 

ances  to  the  contrary,  Europe  is  now  de-Catholizing  her- 
self. One  might  even  go  further  with  safety  and  say  that 
she  is  de-Christianizing  herself.  Slowly  but  surely,  with  the 
irresistible  movement  of  a  geological  subsidence,  faith  is 
waning  among  the  industrial  workers  and  even  among  the 
peasants.  One  may  safely  assert  that  about  twenty  years 
ago  nearly  every  one  held  to  some  religious  creed.  Free- 
thinkers were  few  and  to  be  found  only  in  the  middle  class. 
Societies  for  promoting  secular  marriages  and  burials  existed 
only  in  the  larger  cities.  To-day  we  see  them  spreading  and 
multiplying  throughout  the  industrial  centers  and  wherever 
mining  and  manufacturing  are  carried  on.  In  Belgium,  in 
France,  in  Germany,  the  workmen  who  follow  no  particular 
creed  number  hundreds  of  thousands  —  yes,  millions  —  and 
as  their  hopes  of  a  heavenly  kingdom  dissolve,  other  hopes 
assert  themselves  with  a  growing  intensity.  Wherever  free 
thought  penetrates,  Socialism  enters  also.  We  know,  it  is 
true,  many  workmen  who  become  Socialists  without  re- 
linquishing, or  without  totally  abandoning  their  religious 
convictions ;  but  aside  from  '  yellows  '  and  '  blacklegs,'  acting 
solely  from  mercenary  motives,  we  neither  know  nor  can 
conceive  of  any  freethinking  workman  who  is  not  at  the 
same  time  a  Socialist. 

"  In  the  old  world, —  two  gigantic  coalitions  are  formed 
hy  the  elimination  of  intermediaries:  The  Blach  interna- 
tional and  the  Red  international.  On  the  one  hand  all  those 
who  hold  that  authority  should  descend  from  above  and  who 
find  in  the  Catholic  Church  the  perfect  expression  of  their 
ideal,  the  most  flexible  guardian  of  their  class  privileges;  on 
the  other  hand  are  those  who  insist  that  authority  shall  come 
from  the  people,  and  who,  by  the  logic  of  circumstances,  can 
found  their  hopes  on  nothing  but  Social  Democracy. 

"  Between  these  two  extremes  Protestantism  hesitates  and 
Liberalism  shifts  from  place  to  place.  One  may  welcome 
or  deplore  the  fact  of  this  coming  concentration  of  forces 


10  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

about  the  Catholic  Church  on  the  one  side,  and  Social 
Democracy  on  the  other.  But,  none  can  deny  that  this  con- 
centration is  inevitable,  and  that  the  future  struggles  will 
have  to  be  fought  out  between  these  two  armies.  To  those, 
therefore,  who  are  interested  in  the  social  movement  in 
Europe,  we  say :  '  Observe,  above  all  else,  if  you  wish  to 
consider  only  the  essential  factors,  the  political  activities  of 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  and  those  of  International 
Socialism.'  "  {New  York  Independent,  Dec,  1904,  Vol.  15,  p. 
817.) 

There  is  no  modification  of  pronouncement  by  So- 
cialists here  at  home. —  The  Cross  of  Christ  must  yield 
to  the  red  flag.  So  confidently  do  they  predict  that 
the  "  red  international  will  down  the  black  interna- 
tional "  that  the  leading  Socialist  daily  —  the  New 
York  Call  —  presents  its  readers  with  a  cartoon,  well 
spread  over  a  page  of  its  paper,  of  their  flag  supplanting 
the  Cross.  A  Socialist  workman  of  giant  proportions 
wearing  a  leather  apron  and  a  French  Eevolutionary 
Liberty  Cap  is  standing  in  front  of  the  magnificent 
Cologne  Cathedral  — "  The  charnel  house  of  dead  men's 
bones,  of  ignorance  and  superstition  " —  hoisting  the 
red  flag  above  the  Cross  that  tops  the  steeple.  Bishops 
and  priests  with  miter,  croziers  and  money  bags  are 
running  away  in  confusion.  Tagging  on  to  the  cord 
about  the  Bishop's  waist  are  the  military  officers.  The 
legend  beneath  — "  Down  with  the  Black  and  Up  with 
the  Red!"  For  God  and  Caesar  have  been  put  to 
rout. 

Tersely  reechoing  the  words  of  the  International  So- 
cialist Chairman,  the  United  States  Congressman  from 


TWO  WOEID  POWERS  11 

Milwaukee  —  Victor  L.  Berger,  member  of  the  National 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Socialist  party  and  editor 
of  the  Milwaukee  Leader,  when  being  interviewed  by 
the  Boston  Herald  said: 

"  I  predict  that  in  the  final  summing  up  it  will  he  a 
fight  between  the  red  and  the  Mack  international." 

"  Vlhat  do  you  mean  hy  the  black  international?  " 

"  The  Roman  Catholic  Church." 

Certainly  Catholics  are  not  in  doubt  about  the  issue 
of  the  conflict.  As  surely  as  God  is  not  mocked;  as 
surely  as  the  Almighty  weighs  the  slightest  offense 
against  His  Majesty  in  the  scales  of  exact  justice  and  as 
surely  as  our  Heavenly  Father  is  merciful  to  repentant 
sinners,  just  so  sure  are  we  that  the  Gates  of  Hell  shall 
not  prevail  against  the  Church  of  Christ:  For,  our 
Blessed  Lord  Himself  has  said  so. 

Neither  is  there  any  doubt,  humanly  speaking,  about 
the  correctness  of  the  Socialists'  estimate  as  to  the  part 
Protestantism  or  Liberalism  is  playing  in  the  world- 
conflict,  as  between  the  two  opposing  forces  —  one  Cath- 
olic-universal, supra-national,  the  other  non-national 
and  world  wide.  As  Protestant  Christians  hesitate  to 
go  to  Canossa  at  the  call  of  the  Pope  they  are  pushed  on 
to  so-called  Liberalism,  while  Liberals  shift  from  one 
unsound  defense  to  another,  finally  taking  their  destined 
place  in  a  blank  denial  of  the  supernatural.  Thus  they 
leave  the  brunt  of  the  battle  against  the  Lord  God  of 
Hosts  to  the  army  of  Socialists,  whose  power  for  destru<^ 
tion  none  now  may  dispute. 

It  is  true,  however,  that  individual  Protestants  and 


12  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Liberals  who  love  truth  above  all  things  and  so  are  will- 
ing to  paj  the  price  of  liberty  within  the  Law  are,  in 
large  numbers,  finding  their  way  —  by  the  grace  of 
God  —  back  over  a  stony  road  to  Kome. 

This  were  indeed  a  logical  sequence,  since  nothing 
less  than  a  rational  explanation  of  the  meaning  of  life 
will  satisfy  the  demands  of  the  human  heart  and  mind. 
And,  since  apart  from  the  supernatural  revelation  — 
within  the  keeping  of  the  Catholic  Church  —  no  man  is 
able  to  tell  us  how  it  is  that  a  good  God  reigns  over 
a  bad  world.  So  it  is,  then,  in  God's  goodness,  that  to 
those  who  "  knock  "  the  meaning  of  life  here  and  here- 
after is  opened  unto  them. 

Socialism  would  supersede  the  Church.  It  explains 
the  fact  of  life  by  a  process  of  evolution  that  starts  off 
with  a  "  causeless  cause  "  for  the  cosmos  and  brings 
conscious  man  forth  from  a  non-conscious  universe  made 
up  of  mere  matter  and  force.  It  explains  that  the 
meaning  of  life  ends  with  death;  save  for  such  of  his 
words  and  his  deeds  as  react  upon  those  left  behind. 

How  then,  should  a  body  of  men  dead  both  to  the  love 
and  the  fear  of  God  conceive  of  the  Catholic  Church  as 
other  than  a  man-made  institution  whose  "  political 
activities  "  stand  directly  in  the  path  of  Socialism,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  create  a  "  classless  society"?  A 
society  not  merely  within  this,  that  or  another  nation, 
but,  rather,  counterfeiting  the  Church  militant  on  earth 
by  their  battle  cry :  — ''  Working-men  of  all  countries 
unite!  You  have  nothing  to  lose  hut  your  chains  and 
a  world  to  win." 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  13 

"  The  Black  Intebnational  " 

The  history  of  the  world  attests  to  the  truth  that 
men  have  never  ceased  to  recognize  the  Pope  as  the 
supreme  head  of  that  Living  Organism  —  natural  and 
supernatural  —  which  is  by  the  Socialists  opprobriously 
designated  the  "  Black  International."  There  is  no 
break  in  the  Apostolic  Succession.  There  are  some  300,- 
000,000  persons  of  all  races  and  climes  who  acknowledge 
allegiance  to  the  Pope  as  their  Spiritual  Father  —  their 
authority  and  guide,  on  earth,  in  matters  of  faith  and 
morals.  From  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  era, 
Catholics  have  held  that  the  power  exercised  by  the 
Pope  was  originally  conferred  upon  Simon,  the  Fisher- 
man; when  in  response  to  Simon's  confession  of  super- 
natural faith,  Christ  our  Lord  said :  ''  Thou  art  Peter 
and  on  this  Rock  I  will  build  My  Church,  and  the 
Gates  of  Hell  shall  not  prevail  against  It."  In  perpet- 
ual light  Catholics  have  always  held  that  as  Christ's 
Church  was  to  endure  forever,  as  Christ  was  to  be  with 
His  Church  until  the  consummation  of  the  world,  as  the 
Gates  of  Hell  were  not  to  prevail  against  it,  consequently 
the  power  of  Peter  was  to  pass  down  to  his  Apostolic 
Successors  through  all  the  ages  of  time.  This  belief 
history  substantiates  first  in  the  selection  of  Linus  (67 
A.  D.),  Cletus  (76  A.  D.)  and  so  on  all  down  the  centuries 
until  time  brings  us  to  Benedict  XV,  the  259th  successor 
of  Peter,  whose  power  of  the  Keys  he  exercises.  This 
being  so,  Catholics,  therefore,  believe  Pope  Benedict  XV 
to  be  the  Chief  Pastor  of  the  universal  flock  as  Peter 


14  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

was  Chief  Pastor  of  the  Apostles,  entrusted  by  Christ 
with  the  divine  authority  to  teach  all  nations  — "  to  ob- 
serve all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  In 
a  general  way  when  we  speak  of  the  Pope  we  mean  the 
Church  itself  —  that  Christian  Organism  within  which 
abides  the  love,  the  light  and  the  life  of  Christ,  the 
Saviour  of  Mankind,  established  in  the  year  33  a.  d. 

The  Red  Inteknatignal 

Socialists  themselves  proudly  designate  as  the  "  Eed 
International  "  that  society  made  up  chiefly  of  repre- 
sentatives from  groups  organized  sociologically,  indus- 
trially and  politically.  The  political  groups  are  known 
variously  as  Social  Democratic,  Socialist,  Socialist- 
Labor,  Collectivist  and  Communist  parties.  Embrac- 
ing all  the  known  shades  of  open  and  organized  revolt 
against  what  is  termed  the  Present  Order,  Capitalism, 
Wage-Slavery,  etc.,  etc.,  the  International  gathers 
strength  from  decade  to  decade  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  its  course  has  been  twice  interrupted  and  reorgan- 
ized. Or,  to  use  the  Socialist  phrase,  "  The  point  of  the 
Revolution  has  been  broken  "  for  the  second  time. 

The  first  International,  organized  in  London  (1864) 
under  the  title  —  The  International  Workingman's  As- 
sociation, called  together  about  half  a  hundred  delegates, 
representing  six  nationalities,  with  trade  unionists  in 
the  ascendency.  Many  of  the  continental  delegates  were 
in  exile  in  England  with  Karl  Marx  as  the  most  not- 
able personage. 

The  ostensible  purpose  of  the  London  conference  was 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  15 

to  find  means  to  prevent  the  importation  of  cheap  labor 
from  the  continent  into  England ;  to  organize  and  assist 
wage-earners  to  obtain  better  economic  conditions.  Yet 
underlying  these  practical  issues  the  real  purpose  of 
the  leaders  was  "  to  afford  a  central  medium  of  com- 
munication between  workingmen's  societies  existing  in 
different  countries  "  for  the  propagation  of  their  doc- 
trine of  revolt  against  "  class-rule."  The  trade  union 
element  brought  forth  a  resolution  under  the  leadership 
of  Mazzini  advocating  harmonious  and  reciprocal  re- 
lation between  capital  and  labor.  In  opposition  to  this 
draft  Marx  declared  for  the  "  abolition  of  class-rule  " 
and  his  resolution  was  carried  although  the  English 
workingmen  made  up  nearly  one-half  of  the  delegates 
assembled.  So  it  was  that  Marx  became  the  dominating 
figure  at  the  initial  gathering  of  the  International,  and 
Socialism  started  upon  its  world-wide  career. 

So  opposite  were  the  practical  aims  of  the  trade  union- 
ists from  the  demands  of  the  Socialists,  Anarchists,  Com- 
munists on  the  Continent  that  the  English  workmen 
virtually  withdrew  from  the  organization. 

The  affairs  of  the  Red  International  were  conducted 
through  congresses  held  in  different  countries  and 
through  a  General  Council  located  in  London,  with 
Marx  as  German  Secretary.  The  first  of  these  con- 
gresses was  held  in  Geneva  —  1866.  It  was  attended  by 
about  sixty  delegates  who  were  more  "  radical "  than 
those  assembled  at  London. 

By  the  time  the  second  congress  was  convened  at 
Lausanne,  Switzerland,  the  full-fledged  spirit  of  revolt 


16  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

had  developed  as  expressed  in  the  closing  words  of  the 
President : 

"  We  want  no  more  governments,  for  governments  oppress 
us  by  taxes;  we  want  no  more  armies,  for  armies  massacre 
and  murder  us;  we  want  no  religion,  for  religion  chokes  the 
understanding." 

Upon  the  entrance  of  Michael  Bakunin,  a  Russian, 
into  the  International  Workingmen's  Association  at  the 
congress  of  1869  began  a  struggle  between  the  Bakunians 
and  the  Marxians  for  supremacy.  While  holding  the 
self-same  atheistic  philosophy,  their  methods  for  the 
realization  of  the  "  new  society  "  very  soon  developed 
antagonism  sufficient  to  "  break  the  point  of  the  Revolu- 
tion "  and  thus  extend  their  cult  of  destruction  under 
the  segis  of  Socialism  and  Anarchism  with  Marx  and 
Bakunin  respectively  in  the  lead  throughout  the  world. 
The  failure  of  the  Paris  Commune,  which  the  Interna- 
tional is  said  to  have  inspired,  added  to  the  disruption 
of  these  two  forces  while  the  success  of  the  Bakuninites 
in  getting  their  program  adopted  at  the  Basle  Congress 
(1869)  added  fuel  to  the  flame;  and  plans  were  laid  to 
drive  the  Russian  revolutionist  out  of  the  International. 
The  final  clash  came  in  1872  with  the  Socialists  in  the 
lead,  as  the  Anarchists  had  been  deprived  of  their  leader. 
The  Marxians  had  succeeded  in  having  Congress  con- 
vene at  The  Hague.  They  knew  that  Bakunin  would  be 
unable  to  attend  as  he  had  been  "  exiled  from  both 
French  and  German  territory,  and  being  at  the  time  a 
resident  of  Switzerland,  he  was  unable  to  reach  Holland 


TWO  WOELD  POWERS  17 

without  crossing  one  or  other  of  the  couptries  named." 
(Report  Int.  Workers'  Congress.  The  Leader  Press, 
London,  1896.)  Nor  was  this  all,  "  The  Committee  of 
credentials  which  was  packed  by  Marx's  supporters  " 
gave  them  the  control  of  the  congress  by  a  majority  of 
"  three  votes."  Bakunin  was  expelled  from  the  Inter- 
national. However,  the  lead  was  still  so  unsafe  for  the 
Marxians  that  it  was  "  deliberately  "  decided  that  death 
to  the  organization  was  preferable  to  the  non-Marxian 
control  of  the  International.  The  General  Council  was 
thus  transferred  to  New  York,  far  away  from  Bakunin's 
influence. 

Here  in  America  the  first  International  languished 
and  died.  Mr.  F.  A.  Sorge,  a  life-long  friend  of  Karl 
Marx,  endeavored  to  keep  the  organization  alive.  He 
called  a  convention  in  Philadelphia  for  July  15,  1876. 
Ten  delegates  assembled  to  represent  the  working-class 
of  America  and  one  who  claimed  to  represent  a  Social- 
ist group  in  Germany.  So  discouraged  were  they  at 
the  small  attendance  that  the  International  was  formally 
dissolved  upon  issuing  a  declaration  that  reads,  in  part, 
as  follows : 

"  Fellow  Working-Men,  The  International  convention  at 
Philadelphia  has  abolished  the  General  Council  of  the  Inter- 
national Working-Men's  Association,  and  the  external  bond 
of  the  organization  exists  no  more. 

"  The  International  is  dead !  The  bourgeoisie  of  all  coun- 
tries will  again  exclaim,  and  with  ridicule  and  joy  it  will 
point  to  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  as  documentary 
proof  of  the  defeat  of  the  labor  movement  of  the  world. 
Let  us  not  be  influenced  by  the  cry  of  our  enemies !  .  .  ." 


18  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

It  were  indeed  a  correct  view  that  the  defeat  of  the 
Socialist  insurrection  (Paris  Commune  1871)  had 
brought  death  to  the  first  attempt  at  world-wide  action 
in  the  interest  of  working-class  rule  and  that  its  tomb- 
stone was  set  up  in  Philadelphia.  After  eighteen  years 
had  passed  the  bourgeoisie  were  made  aware  that  al- 
though the  International  was  dead,  it  still  lives.  It  had 
learned  something  of  politics  in  this  interim,  making  its 
reappearance  not  so  much  as  a  workingmen's  economic 
organization  but  rather  with  the  emphasis  upon  political 
parties.  The  new  series  of  the  International  Congresses 
of  Socialists  began  in  Paris  in  1889.  The  Social  Demo- 
cratic Party  of  Germany  was  easily  in  the  lead.  To-day 
a  political  party  organization,  more  or  less  defined, 
exists  in  every  nation. 

The  Paris  Socialist  Congress  (1900)  established  an 
International  Socialist  Bureau  with  Headquarters  in 
Brussels.  Thus  the  second  Bed  International  entered 
upon  its  career.  Through  this  Bureau  the  Secretaries 
of  the  various  countries  extended  and  expanded  their 
propaganda.     Several  congresses  were  held  as  follows: 

FIRST    INTERNATIONAL  SECOND    INTERNATIONAL 

Geneva   1866     Paris  1889 

Lausanne   1867     Brussels    1891 

Brussels   1868     Zurich 1893 

Basle 1869     London  1896 

Hague 1872     Paris 1900 

Philadelphia    1876     Amsterdam    1904 

Stuttgart   1907 

Copenhagen 1910 

Basle 1912 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  19 

Everywhere  public  opinion  and  governmental  action 
was  being  influenced  by  Socialist  propaganda.  Its  phil- 
osophy insists  that  it  has  found  the  key  to  the  meaning 
of  life  and  that  it  will,  if  not  by  ballot,  then  by  bullet, 
settle  once  for  all  the  injustices  that  are  suffered  by  the 
proletariat  by  the  abolition  of  private  property  —  by 
the  repudiation  of  the  Ten  Commandments  and  the 
Giver  of  them.  So  it  was  at  the  beginning  of  our 
century  that  "  Red  ruin  and  the  breaking  up  of  laws  " 
was  well  on  its  way  sweeping  out  what  little  belief  many 
talented  "  after  Christians  "  still  cherished  in  the  super- 
natural life,  who  together  with  atheist  Jews  —  God  save 
the  mark !  —  and  a  few  renegade  Catholics  formed  a 
force  that  had  already  become  a  powerful  factor,  here, 
too,  in  America  in  opposition  to  those  right  principles 
and  sound  institutions  that  are  our  proud  inheritance  as 
a  free  people.  This  was  but  a  natural  sequence, —  that 
organized  revolt  should  fan  the  fire  of  social  discontent 
because  of  despotism,  of  autocracy ;  because  of  the  wan- 
ton use  of  public  power  by  elected  servants ;  because  of 
vast  accumulations  of  wealth  made  by  grinding  the  face 
of  the  poor ;  because  of  a  contempt  for  public  authority 
that  shielded  the  mighty  while  condemning  the  petty 
offender.  In  one  word  by  the  great  revolt  of  four  hun- 
dred years  ago,  the  soil  of  murder  and  rapine  was  being 
mellowed  by  those  nations  and  those  men  who  arrogated 
to  themselves  the  right  of  private  judgment  as  against 
Divine  Authority.  Since  nohlesse  oblige  had  been 
largely  exchanged  for  laissez  faire. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  world-war  the  rational  na- 


20  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

ture,  implanted  in  the  human  race  by  Almighty  God, 
asserted  itself  in  the  heart  and  mind  of  a  multitude  of 
Socialists  sufficiently  to  call  back  the  utter  repudiation 
of  love  of  country.  Hence  the  Socialist  International 
Bureau  ceased  to  function.  "Let  weaklings  go  to  the 
International,  I  go  to  Hindenhurg,"  said  the  editor  of 
the  Chemnitzer  Volksstimme.  Deserted  by  the  action 
of  the  Social  Democratic  Party  of  Germany  —  their 
ideal  political  organization  —  in  its  support  of  the  policy 
of  the  German  government  the  hand  of  death  slowly 
closed  over  the  second  Red  International.  To  quote 
an  American  authority  —  A.  M.  Simons : 

"  When  the  war  broke  out  the  Socialist  International  more 
than  failed.  It  not  only  broke  into  as  many  factions  as 
there  were  warring  nationalities;  its  constituent  members 
went  over  to  the  enemy  and,  in  many  cases,  sought  to  use 
the  very  ties  created  by  International  Organization  to  serve 
the  ends  of  the  deadliest  enemies  of  Socialism."  (The  New 
Review,  Vol.  3,  No.  17.) 

No  less  emphatic  is  the  assertion  of  an  international 
authority  —  Rosa  Luxemburg : 

"  The  German  Social  Democracy  handed  its  political 
resignation  on  August  4th,  1914.  On  that  same  day,  the 
Socialist  International  collapsed.  All  attempts  to  deny  this 
fact  or  to  conceal  it  merely  serve  to  perpetuate  the  conditions 
which  brought  it  about."  (New  Review,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  1, 
1915.) 

Surely  one  who  has  the  world  for  one's  country  has 
no  country.     Yet,  it  is  quite  one  thing  to  profess  this 


TWO  WOELD  POWERS  21 

Internationalism  and  honor  it  by  the  motto  — "  The 
World  is  My  Country  "  at  the  base  of  a  statue  on  Com- 
monwealth Avenue  as  the  citizens  of  Boston  are  doing, 
but  quite  another  to  carry  this  anarchistic  opinion  to  its 
logical  and  treasonable  conclusion  as  the  minority  groups 
of  all  the  Socialist  parties  of  the  several  countries  are 
doing.  If,  however,  we  sow  the  wind  shall  we  rightly 
expect  to  escape  the  whirlwind? 

The  truth  is  that  nations  are  not  immune  as  is  the 
Church  against  the  assaults  from  the  Gates  of  Hell. 
With  the  corollary  that,  although  the  life  of  the  nation 
is  but  mortal,  it,  too,  owes  its  existence  to  the  Providence 
of  God.  Reasoning,  then,  with  natural  gratitude  for  it8 
deliverance,  one  might  assume  that  the  recent  experience 
of  the  most  innocent,  perhaps,  and  surely  the  most  af- 
flicted of  all  the  nations  in  the  world-conflict,  would  have 
been  the  last  rather  than  the  first  to  hail  the  advent  of 
the  third  Red  International.  But,  the  great  Rebel  who 
first  brought  disorder  into  the  world  has  still  his  fol- 
lowers. In  spite  of  the  glorious  part  taken  there  by  a 
Prince  of  the  Church,  the  Socialists  of  Belgium  were 
the  first  to  sound  the  toxin  for  a  fresh  onslaught  through- 
out the  world  of  Red  Rebellion.  Prom  under  the  cap- 
tion "  The  International  is  Dead  — •  Long  Live  the  In- 
ternational," we  quote: 

"  The  First  International  vanished.  An  inglorious  death 
met  the  second  International.  But  the  International  still 
lives,  still  is  the  personification  of  the  great  watchword: 
*  Workers  of  all  countries,  unite ! '  The  first  and  second  In- 
ternationals have  gone,  but  now  comes  the  third  to  once 


22  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

more  sound  the  clarion  call,  the  revolutionary  red  Third  In- 
ternational !  "  ("  Socialiste  Beige,"  Revolutionary  Age,  Dec. 
21,  1918.) 

Some  three  weeks  later  the  Belgian  Labor  Party  sent 
a  committee  to  meet  the  Executive  Committee  of  the 
French  Socialist  Party.  Their  purpose  was  jointly  to 
send  out  a  call  for  an  International  Congress  to  meet  in 
Brussels.  It  was  proposed  that  delegates  should  be 
chosen  from  "  those  members  of  the  International  Social- 
ist Bureau  who  represent  the  proletariat  of  the  Allied 
Powers.  This  meeting  would  have  for  its  object  to  ex- 
amine under  what  conditions  it  will  be  possible  to  recon- 
struct, upon  the  basis  of  sincerity  and  mutual  confidence, 
the  Socialist  and  Labor  International." 

The  French  Socialists  objected,  since  the  Socialist 
parties  of  the  sometime  Central  Powers  were  an  integral 
part,  indeed  the  larger  part,  of  the  International  Social- 
ist Bureau,  their  delegates  should  not  be  excluded  with- 
out a  hearing.     So  that  project  was  killed  a-borning. 

From  the  news  we  are  able  to  gather  it  now  appears 
that  not  one  but  two  Internationals  will  be  established. 
One  made  up  of  "  Social  Patriots  "  the  other  of  the 
Bolsheviki  everywhere.  Taking  our  cue  in  part  from 
the  leader  of  the  Eussian  Bolsheviki,  we  see  some  little 
hope  of  a  return  to  sanity  of  groups  of  men  who  before 
the  war  were  unconscious  of  their  loyalty  to  their  own 
country  and  too  of  the  fundamental  right  of  every  man 
to  own  private  property  in  capital.  We  shall  permit 
Lenin  to  define  the  meaning  of  the  "  Social  Patriot." 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  23 

"  The  Social  Patriots  are  Socialists  in  words  and  patriots 
in  fact,  who  agree  to  defend  their  fatherland  in  an  imperial- 
istic war,  and  particularly  this  imperialistic  war.  These  men 
are  our  class  enemies.  They  have  gone  over  to  the  bourgeois 
camp.  The  Social  Patriots  are  the  enemies  of  our  class,  they 
are  bourgeois  in  the  midst  of  the  labor  movement.  They 
represent  layers  or  groups  of  the  working  class  which  have 
been  practically  bought  by  the  bourgeoisie,  through  better 
wages,  positions  of  honor,  etc.,  and  which  help  their  bour- 
geoisie to  exploit  and  oppress  smaller  and  weaker  nations,  and 
to  take  part  in  the  division  of  capitalistic  spoils."  ("  Task 
of  the  Proletariat  in  Our  Revolution,"  Petrograd,  Sept., 
1917.) 

The  "  Social  Patriots "  are  those  internationalists 
who  met  at  Berne  at  the  call  of  Arthur  Henderson  of 
England  and  Camille  Huysmans,  Secretary  of  the  de- 
funct International  Socialist  Bureau  of  the  second  In- 
ternational ;  and  the  congress  was  made  up  of  Socialists 
and  Trade  Unionists.  It  was  repudiated  by  Socialists 
of  the  country  in  which  it  assembled  and  generally  by  the 
Bolshevist  element  of  the  organized  movement  through- 
out the  world. 

By  what  is  said  against  it,  rather  more  than  by  what 
it  says  for  itself  we  gather  our  hope  for  a  return  to  the 
normal  activities  of  Trade  Unions,  and  so  a  return  to 
the  world  force  that  has  in  its  keeping  social  health. 
The  Social  Democratic  Party  of  Switzerland  declared 
(February,  1919) : 

"  We  refuse  to  be  represented  at  a  conference  where  those 
morally  responsible  for  the  murder  of  Liebknecht  and  Rosa 
Luxemburg  will  sit  beside  Comrades  who  even  in  the  next 


24  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

few  weeks  will  fall,  new  sacrifices  to  the  government  Social- 
ists. 

"  We  greet  the  Kussian  revolution,  and  take  up  the  battle 
cry  of  the  Russian  and  German  revolutionists,  calling  the 
proletariat  to  the  world  revolution." 

In  our  own  country  the  Berne  Congress  was  repudi- 
ated in  a  resolution  adopted  by  the  Central  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Eussian,  Lettish,  Ukrainian,  Esthon- 
ian  and  Lithuanian  Federations  of  the  Socialist  party  of 
America,  we  quote  from  their  report  February  9,  1919 : 

"  The  Berne  Congress  favors  a  bourgeois  League  of  Na- 
tions, instead  of  a  Socialist  League  of  revolutionary  nations ; 
it  is  promoting  a  fraudulent  bourgeois  democracy  instead  of 
a  proletarian  revolution :  it  favors  a  Wilson  peace  of  phrases 
instead  of  a  Lenin  peace  of  revolutionary  deeds;  it  is  a 
vipers'  nest  of  Social  Patriots  and  betrayers  of  Socialism." 

The  Bolsheviki  here  will  have  none  of  the  Berne  Con- 
gress, yet  there  is  no  mistaking  their  intention  to  further 
the  world  revolution : 

"  The  last  convulsive  gasp  of  the  International.  Its  corpse 
is  now  a  stinking  carrion.  There  must  be  a  new  Inter- 
national of  revolutionary  Socialism  of  the  final  struggle  and 
victory."     (Revolutionary  Age,  Boston,  Feb.  22,  1919.) 

The  uncompromising  elements  of  the  Socialist  move- 
ment in  Europe  have  listed  the  several  divisions  of  their 
strength  throughout  the  world ;  have  outlined  their  prin- 
ciples, program  and  aims  and  invited  all  their  numer- 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  25 

ous  national  divisions  to  join  in  setting  up  the  third 
International.  The  document  is  sent  out  by  the  Com- 
munist parties,  known  also  as  the  Bolsheviki  (Russia), 
Spartacus  (Germany)  or  left  wing  Socialists  (Scandi- 
navia, the  Balkans  and  other  countries). 

It  is  signed  by  the  representatives  of  eight  countries 
who  are  attached  to  the  Foreign  Bureau  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki and  countersigned  by  G.  Tchitcherin,  Russian 
Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs. 

For: 

1.  The  Central  Committee  of  the  Russian  Communist 
Party  (Lenin-Trotsky). 

2.  The  Foreign  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Poland 
(Manehiewsky). 

3.  The  Foreign  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Hun- 
gary (Rudniovsky). 

4.  The  Foreign  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Party  of  German 
Austria  (Duda). 

5.  The  Russian  Bureau  of  the  Communist  Party  of  Lett- 
land  (Eosin). 

6.  The  Central  Committee  of  Finland  (Siirola). 

7.  The  Executive  Committee  of  the  Balkan  Revolutionary 
Social  Democratic  Federation  (Rakowski). 

8.  For  the  S.  L.  P.,  American  (Boris  Reinstein). 

Since  the  Bolshevists  know  their  own,  we  present 
their  list  in  full.  Upon  a  recognition  of  the  program 
sent  out  these  groups  will  be  considered  "  full-fledged  " 
members  of  the  Third  International : 

1.  Spartacus  Group  (German), 

2.  Communist  Party  (Bolsheviki-Russia). 


26  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

3.  Communist  Party  (German- Austria). 

4.  Communist  Party  (Hungary). 

5.  Communist  Party  (Poland). 

6.  Communist  Party  (Finland). 

7.  Communist  Party  (Esthonia). 
9.  Communist  Party  (Lettland). 

10.  Communist  Party  (Lithuania). 

11.  Communist  Party  ( White  Russia). 

12.  Communist  Party  (Ukrainia). 

13.  The  revolutionary  elements  of  the  Czech  Social  Demo- 
cratic Party. 

14.  The  "  Narrow-Minded "  Bulgarian  Social-Democratic 
Party. 

15.  The  Rumanian  Social-Democratic  Party. 

16.  The    licft   Wing    of   the    Serbian    Social-Democratic 
Party. 

17.  The  Left  Social-Democratic  Party,  of  Sweden. 

18.  The  Norwegian  Social-Democratic  Party. 

19.  The  group  "  Klassenkampen  "  (Denmark). 

20.  The  Communist  Party  (Holland). 

21.  The  revolutionary  elements  of  the  Belgian  Labor  Party. 
22  and  23.  The  groups  and  organizations  and  syndicalist 

movements  in  France,  which  in  the  main  and  on  the  whole, 
agree  with  Loriot. 

24.  The  Left  Social-Democrats  of  Switzerland. 

25.  The  Italian  Socialist  Party. 

26.  The  Left  element  of  the  Spanish  Socialist  Party. 

27.  The  Left  elements  of  the  Portuguese  Socialist  Party. 

28.  The  British  Socialist  Party,  particularly  that  tendency 
represented  by  MacLean. 

29.  Socialist  Labor  Party  (England). 

30.  L  W.  W.  (England). 

31.  L  W.  W.  of  Great  Britain. 

32.  The  revolutionary  elements  of  the  Irish  Labor  organi- 
zations. 


TWO  WORLD  POWERS  27 

33.  The  revolutionary  elements  of  Shop  Stewards  (Great 
Britain). 

34.  Socialist  Labor  Party  (America). 

35.  The  Left  elements  of  the  American  Socialist  Party  (the 
tendency  represented  by  Debs  and  the  Socialist  Propaganda 
League). 

36.  I.  W.  W.  (America). 

37.  L  W.  W.  (Australia). 

38.  Workers'  International  Industrial  Union  (America). 

39.  The  Socialist  groups  of  Tokio  and  Yokohama  (repre- 
sented by  Comrade  Katayama). 

40.  The  Young  People's  Socialist  International. 

Surely  here  is  a  formidable  force  organized  for  de- 
struction and  we  confidently  say  that  the  Catholic 
Churcli  which  created  our  western  civilization  is  the 
one  power  that  can  resist  its  advance  and  so  preserve 
the  human  progress  that  has  been  made  on  earth  since 
our  Blessed  Lord  gave  the  charge  to  Peter,  "  Feed  my 
lambs,  feed  my  sheep." 


II 

STANDAEDS  OF  FAITH  AND  OF  FATALISM 

HAVING  established  the  existence  of  a  world  force 
in  active  opposition  to  the  Universal  —  the 
Catholic  Church  —  the  standards  by  which  socialistic- 
fatalism  opposes  itself  to  faith,  above  and  beyond  the 
mere  reaction  of  things  material,  may  well  be  brought 
out  to  show  how  completely  antagonistic  Socialist  theory 
and  its  practical  application  —  Bolshevism  —  is  to 
Christian  principles  and  practise  within  organized  so- 
ciety. The  candid  mind  will  admit  that  upon  the  do- 
main of  the  modem  Csesar  —  the  State  —  which  may  be 
marked  off  into  its  four  grand  divisions  —  the  civil ; 
the  social ;  the  commercial  and  the  domestic  spheres  — 
may  be  clearly  seen  the  impress  of  those  Christian  doc- 
trines, principles,  practises  and  sentiments  that  after 
having  conquered  the  ancient  Pagan  world  erected  the 
structure  of  civilization  as  we  know  it  to-day, —  with  its 
ever  restless  desire  to  have  God's  will  done  on  earth  as 
it  is  in  Heaven. 

In  truth,  Socialism  itself  in  its  negative  way  is  a 
tribute  to  Catholicity.  When  it  condemns  the  evils  that 
afflict  modern  life  it  does  so  upon  the  basis  of  morality 
and  in  terms  that  correctly  correspond  to  Christian 
thought  and  sentiment.     Yet,  this  is  utterly  inconsistent 

28 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  29 

with  its  basic  doctrine  that  men  are  in  no  wise  respon- 
sible for  their  individual  conduct  since  their  will  is  not 
free  to  choose  the  good  from  the  evil.  And,  further- 
more, since  good  and  evil  are  not  absolute  principles 
but  rather  mere  attitudes  of  mind,  one  may  indeed  be 
relatively  more  or  less  "  class-conscious  " —  that  is  all 
there  is  to  morality  I 

"  Modern  thought  doesn't  concern  itself  much  about  what 
is  theoretically  *  right,'  but  instead  about  what  is  socially 
useful.  The  more  you  analyze  a  supposed  *  right '  the  more 
you  are  led  to  see  in  it  merely  some  one's  concept  of  what 
ought  to  be.  In  other  words,  the  notion  of  a  '  right '  cannot 
be  established  on  any  natural  or  logical  basis.  It  used  to  be 
supposed  that  the  Almighty  had  granted  to  humankind  cer- 
tain securities  known  as  '  rights '  and  after  Rousseau's  time 
it  was  supposed  by  many  men  that  nature  herself  had 
definitely  fixed  them ;  hence  the  term  '  natural  rights.'  But 
both  ideas  have  had  to  give  way.  What  the  world  is  now 
fighting  for  is  the  establishment  of  a  social  order  in  which 
every  one  finds  opportunity  for  his  fullest  development." 
(Head  of  Information  Department  of  Appeal  to  Reason, 
Girard,  Kan.,  Dec.  28,  1918.) 

However,  since  right-reason  forces  the  conclusion  that 
the  conduct  of  man  —  in  the  family,  in  his  industrial 
relations  and  in  political  and  social  affairs  —  is  de- 
pendent upon  the  principles,  true  or  false,  to  which  he 
pays  allegiance,  it  becomes  a  matter  of  public  safety  to 
insist  that  free-will  actions  are  moral  or  immoral  as 
one's  conduct  conforms  to  the  constitution  natural  to 
mankind:  that  is  to  say  to  God's  law.  The  issue  may 
be  clearly  seen  by  contrasting  the  view  held  by  So- 


30  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

cialists  as  to  the  origin  of  man  with  the  belief  held  by 
Catholics  and  competent  men  of  science.  "  Matter  in 
motion "  is  the  irrational  first  cause  for  the  former ; 
while  the  First  Cause  for  the  latter  is  our  Omniscient 
Father  —  Almighty  God. 

From  the  consequence  that  man  is  an  entity  in  him- 
self —  a  distinct  personality  having  free-will  —  he  is 
morally  bound  to  obey  the  law  of  his  nature.  His  only 
right,  therefore,  lies  in  obedience,  yet  he  has  the  power 
of  disobedience.  He  has  rights  since  God  has  given 
them  —  and  responsibilities  towards  God,  towards  his 
fellow  men  and  with  regard  to  himself.  He  is  com- 
manded to  love  his  neighbors  as  himself.  As,  by  his  nat- 
ural constitution,  the  man  and  his  neighbors  dwell  within 
civil  society,  we  shall  set  forth  some  of  the  simple  prin- 
ciples that  perforce  govern  Christians  and  then,  in  con- 
trast to  these  principles  of  right-reason,  show  forth  the 
notions  of  man's  relationships  as  they  are  found  in  So- 
cialist propaganda  here  and  abroad.  ^Necessarily,  as 
Christ's  Vicar  interprets  the  moral  law  for  the  govern- 
ment of  Catholics  and  as  their  recognized  Socialist  au- 
thorities interpret  their  theory  of  the  origin  of  man 
and  his  activity,  as  motived  by  a  series  of  "  class-strug- 
gles," there  is  all  the  difference  between  light  and  dark- 
ness ;  between  right  and  wrong  in  the  opinions  and  senti- 
ments held  by  the  one  group  and  the  other.  What  then, 
is  the  Catholic  attitude  towards  the  State  of  whatsoever 
form  of  just  government  ? 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  31 

CivEL  Society 

By  the  command  of  the  Lord-God,  to  render  unto 
Caesar  the  things  that  belong  to  Caesar,  patriotism  be- 
comes a  positive  law  —  for  Christians  a  religious  obli- 
gation. Civil  authority  is  not  indeed  personal.  It  does 
not  reside  in  the  official  as  an  individual  —  as  the  doc- 
trine of  the  divine  right  of  kings  would  make  it  out  — 
but  rather  it  belongs  to  that  public  entity  —  that  moral 
body,  the  Commonwealth.  The  will  of  the  nation  like 
the  will  of  the  family,  its  unit,  is  cohesive.  In  it  is  the 
bond  of  the  worth  of  the  individual,  with  immortal  life, 
and  the  bond  of  the  worth  of  the  family,  the  unit  that 
makes  up  the  mortal  life  of  the  country.  In  the  will  of 
the  Commonwealth  is,  too,  the  bond  of  internal  and  ex- 
ternal peace  for  safeguarding  the  rights  of  its  members, 
while  it  claims  from  them  their  duties  towards  their 
country. 

Patriotism,  the  supreme  quality  of  this  organic  bond, 
demands  the  subordination  of  personal  interests,  of  fam- 
ily kinships  and  of  party  loyalty  in  times  of  national 
stress.  Not  indeed  for  the  glory  of  the  State,  primarily, 
but  rather  for  the  glory  of  the  Author  of  ITations  under 
whose  providence  and  protection  men  are  born  to  know 
God,  to  love  God,  and  to  serve  Him  as  the  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  our  life  on  earth.  It  was  not  our  country  that 
gave  us  our  natural  rights,  but  rather  God  who  gave  us 
our  Country  to  protect  our  rights  on  earth.  So  it  is  that 
the  supreme  sacrifice  of  life  itself,  is  rightly  given  to 
one's  country  for  the  love  of  God ;  since  the  country  we 


32  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  GUEE 

are  morally  bound  to  love  and  to  serve  was  given  to  us 
by  God  for  the  protection  of  our  life,  liberty,  property 
and  family.  Hence  within,  not  without^  love  and  loy- 
alty to  God  reside  love  and  loyalty  to  country. 

Conversely,  patriotism  will  not  permit  of  the  use  of 
public  power  for  the  extension  of  private  fortunes ;  nor 
for  the  promotion  of  individual  honor  save  for  disin- 
terested service  rendered  to  the  body  politic.  Hence 
the  social  organism  functioning  normally  in  times  of 
peace  demonstrates  internal  order.  But  in  times  of  war 
organized  force  —  moral  and  physical  —  is  necessary 
for  the  defense  of  rights  and  the  enforcement  of  jus- 
tice, that  peace  and  security  may  return  as  in  normal 
times.  Yet,  since  the  injury  done  to  the  whole  race 
by  the  rebellion  of  our  first  parents  has  consequences 
of  social  as  of  personal  disorder  the  virtue  of  patriotism 
by  inspiring  heroic  deeds  forms  a  noble  guard  of  eternal 
vigilance  of  our  country's  honor  —  the  price  we  pay 
for  liberty !  All  of  us  know  that  only  ten  men  are 
needed  to  save  a  city. 

Social  Intercouese 

The  earth  and  the  fulness  thereof  was  given  to  man 
and  since  man  must  eat  his  bread  in  the  sweat  of  his 
brow  it  consequently  follows  that  each  and  every  one  of 
us,  throughout  all  ages,  should  render  due  service  to  his 
own  day  and  generation  in  return  for  the  means  of  liv- 
ing —  not  indeed  at  a  dead  level,  but  of  picturesque  and 
interesting  variety.  For  as  some  persons  have  one  talent, 
others  five  and  still  others  ten  talents  expressing  qualities 


FAITH  Amy  FATALISM  88 

and  intensities  of  an  infinitely  changing  development  it 
should  be  evident  that  the  flux  and  flow  of  social  classes 
are  natural  to  the  aggregation  of  families  that  make  up 
a  nation.  For  men  are  born  equal  in  this  —  they  are 
sons  of  God  and  heirs  of  Heaven.  Although  their  ma- 
terial and  intellectual  advantages  vary  greatly,  yet  their 
moral  opportunities  are  such  that  each  individual  soul 
may  —  by  God's  grace  —  find  the  path  to  eternal  hap- 
piness. To  love  one  another  is  the  law  and  to  work  out 
our  particular  talents  in  the  service  of  our  fellow  men 
is  our  opportunity  to  do  unto  others  as  we  would  have 
them  do  unto  us.  Yet,  if  to  the  highest  we  will  not  re- 
spond, God's  justice  sees  to  it  that  we  pay  to  the  last  jot 
and  tittle  what  we  owe  to  others.  Since,  then,  we  are 
commanded  every  day  to  pray  to  be  forgiven  our  tres- 
passes as  we  forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us,  woe 
be  to  those  of  us  who  do  not  in  honor  prefer  one  another 
by  an  exchange  of  courtesies  that  come  as  fittingly  from 
the  lowly  as  from  the  exalted,  since  the  brotherhood  of 
man  is  vastly  more  than  a  platitude. 

Resting  upon  Christian  standards,  social  intercourse 
creates  a  public  opinion  that  is  at  once  sound  and  beau- 
tiful, and  a  multitude  of  activities  are  developed  for 
cultural  enjoyment,  while  freedom  in  the  expression 
of  tastes,  rather  than  slavery  to  fashion,  is  given  for  the 
ornate  or  the  simple  life.  With  love  and  justice  as  the 
two  pillars  of  social  culture,  what  should  hinder  the 
classes  and  the  masses  from  dwelling  together  in  friendly 
relationship  ? 


34  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

The  CoMMKRCiAi  Sphere 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  individual  right  to  the  own- 
ership of  economic  wealth  operated  with  a  view  to 
increase  one's  private  property  if  the  Decalogue  is  not 
out  of  date.  Nor  to  the  individual  right  of  a  permanent 
inheritance  of  lucrative  property.  Otherwise,  the 
foundation  were  lacking  for  the  sufficient  reason  that 
private  property  is  necessary  to  the  support  of  the  fam- 
ily —  the  family  being  the  unit  of  the  state.  Since  buy- 
ing and  selling  is  the  ground  floor  of  commerce  the  con- 
clusion is  without  flaw  that  civil  society  is  conditioned 
upon  the  exchange  of  commodities  and  services  for  its 
existence. 

But  justice  is  the  foundation  of  the  world  —  it  claims 
primary  recognition  in  all  the  relations  of  man  with 
man.  So  be  it !  TJpon  the  words  of  our  Blessed  Lord 
Himself,  wage-paying  and  wage-taking  is  based  upon 
the  principle  of  economic  justice.  Just  a  little  study 
should  make  it  clear  that  the  reasons  for  the  exchange 
of  work  for  money  is  an  act  of  social  advantage,  al- 
though the  reasons  of  the  employer  for  giving  the  wage 
may  differ  never  so  greatly  from  the  reasons  of  the  em- 
ployee who  receives  the  wage.  Yet,  while  the  exchange 
of  money  for  work  gives  the  one  and  the  other  personal 
satisfaction,  the  basis  of  exchange  is  not  personal  advan- 
tage but  rather  it  is  equity.  Measure  for  measure  in 
economic  value  must  by  either  party  to  the  transaction 
be  given  and  received,  else  injustice  spoils  the  act  by 
giving  it  the  baneful  character  of  robbing  the  one  or 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  35 

the  other.  It  is  clear  then  that  a  right  understanding 
of  the  principles  involved  in  buying  and  selling  and  a 
rightful  discharge  of  duties,  on  either  side  of  the  bar- 
gain, will  satisfy  men  of  good  will.  To  the  envious 
man,  justice  is  not  sufficient.  The  laborers  who  re- 
ceived their  just  wage  —  a  penny  a  day  —  grumbled 
when  at  our  Lord's  injunction  His  steward  gave  a  penny 
also  to  those  who,  having  found  no  man  to  hire  them, 
went  to  work  at  the  eleventh  hour. 

Moreover,  no  Christian  disputes  the  principle  that 
since  all  we  have,  and  life  itself,  must  be  given  in  serv- 
ice to  God  it  is  mere  common  sense  that  the  wealth  a 
man  has  is  held  in  trust.  Consequently,  the  private 
property  consumed  in  the  production  of  more  wealth 
must  be  used,  ultimately,  to  promote  the  honor  and  glory 
of  God.  Noblesse  oblige  is  not  merely  a  chivalrous  senti- 
ment, it  is  a  Christian  statute,  applicable  to  the  sphere 
of  commerce. 

As  for  the  wago-earner,  his  right  to  the  life  that  God 
gave  carries  with  it  a  right  to  the  means  of  life.  On 
this  ground  Pope  Leo  XIII  sets  forth  the  legislation 
that  at  the  very  lowest  round  of  the  wage  scale  a  man 
shall  receive  money  sufficient  to  maintain  himself  and 
his  family  in  frugal  comfort  and,  too,  something  to  lay 
by  for  a  rainy  day  or  for  the  disabilities  of  old  age. 
More  than  this !  If  through  no  fault  of  their  own  the 
idle  men  in  the  market  place  begin  work  at  the  eleventh 
hour,  justice  requires  that  the  necessities  of  living  be 
supplied  to  them.  If  not  by  their  neighbors,  the  capital- 
ists, then  by  the  Commonwealth. 


36  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Yet  even  justice  were  cold  comfort  to  those  who,  as 
the  street  phrase  has  it,  are  down  and  out.  The  Sa- 
maritan who  was  beaten  and  robbed  on  his  way  to  Jeri- 
cho may  have  been  a  saint  or  a  sinner  —  we  do  not  know. 
But,  we  do  know  that  his  condition  called  for  succor. 
Furthermore,  we  know  that  those  who  passed  him  by 
"  on  the  other  side "  were  his  neighbors,  having  the 
sternest  obligation  to  be  his  keeper.  Thanks  be  to  God ! 
there  came  a  man  who  gave  the  necessary  aid  with  the 
measure  of  generosity  heaped  up  to  the  brim  and  running' 
over. 

Let  it  not  be  said  that  although  the  wage-system  is 
permanent  in  principle  and  in  itself  entirely  just,  that 
wage-earners  are  doomed  to  remain  in  that  economic 
station  for  life,  l^oi  so,  for  men  are  ascending  and  de- 
scending the  industrial  ladder  —  from  wage-earner  to 
capitalist  and  from  capitalist  to  wage-earner  —  every 
day  in  the  year. 

No  more  can  the  principle  of  economic  competition  be 
separated  from  that  of  economic  cooperation.  For  men 
cooperate  and  compete  within  a  single  industrial  plant, 
yet  they  are  in  combination  for  the  purpose  of  winning 
the  competition  prize  —  the  market.  Just  as  wp  and 
down  come  together  at  the  horizon  so  the  two  extremes 
of  competition  and  cooperation  meet  on  common  ground, 
—  each  to  correct  the  excesses  of  either.  For  under 
the  providence  of  the  Author  of  l^ations  the  Common- 
wealth is  entitled  to  the  best  work  of  all  its  citizens,  and 
like  as  the  power  and  skill  of  a  man's  right  hand  is 
combined  with  the  power  and  skill  of  his  left  hand 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  37 

in  order  to  work  out  the  design  in  his  mind  into  a  pro- 
duct for  his  own  advantage,  likewise  —  while  keeping 
close  within  their  mutual  rights  and  duties  —  may  our 
citizens  work  to  the  advantage  of  the  body-politic  while 
working  also  for  their  own  advantage. 

The  Church,  the  Commandments,  the  Gospels,  and 
right  reasoning  make  it  clear  that  the  capitalist  has  a 
right  to  his  justly  gotten  gains;  yet,  it  is  also  as  clear 
that  he  has  the  power  to  get  and  to  keep  ill  gotten  gains. 
Also,  the  wage-worker  has  a  right  to  the  full  value  of 
his  toil.  Yet,  the  cry  of  the  laborer  that  his  just  wage 
has  been  kept  by  fraud  goes  up  to  Heaven  for  redress. 
Even  so!  Since  it  shall  profit  a  man  nothing  to  gain 
the  whole  world  at  the  loss  of  his  soul,  redress  is  surely 
on  its  way  and  woe  be  to  those  who  carry  rebellion  in 
their  hearts  to  their  graves. 

The  Domestic  Sphere 

As  commerce  is  the  material  foundation  of  civilized 
life,  so  is  the  family  the  natural  —  the  moral  —  founda- 
tion of  the  social  organism.  Hence  it  is  that  the  health 
of  a  nation  may  be  known  to  be  good  by  the  freedom  of 
its  families  from  blasting  and  corrupting  motives  and 
influences.  Catholics  have  but  one  voice  as  to  the  stan- 
dards that  are  necessary  for  the  maintenance  of  family 
integrity.  For  the  sufficient  reason  that  the  Church  has 
but  one  voice  on  the  matter  —  God's  voice.  Christians 
must  then,  of  necessity,  recognize  marriage  as  divine  in 
its  origin  while  its  purpose  is  natural  to  the  existence  of 
the  human  race. 


38  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Within  the  marriage  bond  "  these  twain  are  one 
flesh  "  in  a  life  union. 

Marriage  is  a  state  of  life  mutually  entered  into  by 
one's  own  free-will  consent. 

The  formation  of  this  moral  body  —  the  family  — 
has  two  primary  functions, —  the  propagation  of  the  race 
and  the  mutual  comfort  and  happiness  of  husband  and 
wife. 

Within  the  body  politic  man  stands  as  the  responsible 
head  of  the  family;  while  within  the  precincts  of  the 
home  woman  has  the  leading  responsibility.  Thus, 
these  twain,  made  one,  perfectly  complement  each  the 
other  in  the  every-day  duties  and  dignities  that  the  ex- 
igencies of  life  bring  to  the  family. 

The  primary  and  chief  duty  of  parents  is  that  of  rear- 
ing children  in  the  love  and  fear  of  God ;  that  they  may 
glorify  their  Father  in  Heaven.  The  parents'  secon- 
dary duty  is  like  unto  their  first:  By  education,  fit- 
ting their  children  to  love  their  neighbor  as  they  love 
themselves  and  to  pay  due  love  to  their  country  and 
due  loyalty  and  obedience  to  Csesar  —  the  authority  of 
a  nation  that  is  rightly  empowered  to  govern,  upon  the 
consent  of  the  governed.  Since  the  family  government 
is  prior  to  that  of  the  Commonwealth  and  since  the  fam- 
ily is  the  necessary  unit  of  the  Commonwealth,  God's 
commands  lay  the  foundation  of  all  government  and  are 
first  to  be  obeyed  —  to  the  end  that  the  sufferings  of 
Christ  shall  accomplish  their  mission,  namely,  the  re- 
demption of  mankind. 

So  it  is  that  Christians  hold  ever  in  mind  the  super- 


FAITH  Amy  FATALISM  39 

natural  character  of  the  family  relation  —  the  gift  by 
which  parents  in  cooperation  with  Almighty  God  clothe 
the  human  soul  with  its  physical  body.  Nor  is  it  ever 
forgotten  that  our  Divine  Lord  marked  off  with  especial 
sanctification  the  entrance  upon  parental  obligation, 
by  His  presence  at  the  marriage  feast  at  Cana  —  there  it 
was  that  Christ  worked  His  first  miracle. 

From  the  fact  that  God  has  been  driven  out  of  So- 
cialist consideration  and  that  even  the  First  Cause  of 
all  creation  is  asserted  to  be  a  "  causeless  cause "  the 
teachings  of  Socialism  are  at  once  seen  to  be  irreconcil- 
able with  the  moral  code  of  the  Church.  They  have  no 
sanction  for  their  shifting  standards  of  belief  and  con- 
duct save  only  the  will  of  their  "  class-conscious  "  ma- 
jority; of  which  the  Bolsheviki  is  a  recent  and  rather 
overwhelming  demonstration. 

But,  Christian  morality  is  plainly  based  upon  positive 
law.  One  must  believe  in  God,  free-will,  the  Christian 
concept  of  the  family,  of  the  state,  of  private  property 
and  of  individual  moral  responsibility  as  interpreted  by 
the  Pope  for  the  government  of  Catholics. 

All  this  is  lightly  brushed  aside  by  a  puff  of  wind 
from  the  lips  of  their  founders  and  leaders  as  "  bour- 
geois morality  " —  something  quite  out  of  date.  More- 
over, it  is  fiercely  conceived  to  be  their  especial  mission 
to  oppose  and  to  overthrow  the  entire  structure  of  soci- 
ety ;  while  they  await  the  oncoming  of  what  the  "  evolu- 
tionary "  future  shall  bring  forth  from  the  "  womb  of 
Capitalism."  This  negative,  destructive  attitude,  is  re- 
lied upon  with  as  complete  a  fatalistic  confidence  as 


40  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

one  may  rightly  have  with  a  tried-out  chemical  formula. 
To  change  the  "  capitalist  system  "  by  destroying  it,  is 
the  way  to  form  that  "  new  society  "  of  their  dreams. 
This  is  quite  logical,  for  it  rests  upon  a  profoundly  un- 
reasonable, if  one  may  be  allowed  the  term,  premise, 
that  all  factors,  be  they  spiritual,  political,  social  or  do- 
mestic, are  but  emanations  from  the  economic  class  con- 
flicts between  man  and  man.  The  negation  of  man's 
spiritual  nature  and  the  assumption  that  materialism  is 
the  cause  of  idealism  sets  forth  the  explanation  of  the 
Socialist  method  of  propaganda.  By  doing  nothing  on 
the  principle  of  construction  they  propose  to  translate 
their  philosophy  into  act. 

There  is  no  mistaking  the  essential  meaning  of  Social- 
ist philosophy.  Let  us  quote  a  classic  of  Karl  Marx  — 
a  world  authority : 

"  The  economic  structure  of  society  is  the  real  foundation, 
on  which  rise  legal  and  political  superstructures  and  to 
which  correspond  definite  forms  of  social  consciousness.  The 
mode  of  production  in  material  life  determines  the  general 
character  of  the  social,  political  and  spiritual  processes  of 
life.  It  is  not  the  consciousness  of  men  that  determines  their 
existence,  but,  on  the  contrary,  their  social  existence  deter- 
mines their  consciousness."  (P.  11,  "  Critique  of  Political 
Economy,"  N.  Y.,  1904.) 

IN^either  common  sense,  world  experience  nor  Chris- 
tian enlightenment  can  come  to  our  aid  in  the  interpre- 
tation of  the  premise  here  laid  down  by  Marx:  That 
the  mode  of  production  determines  the  spiritual  pro- 
cesses of  life :  that  "  social  existence  "  is  the  source  of 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  41 

individual  consciousness.  Quite  to  the  contrary  one 
must  have  recourse  to  the  Socialist  discovery  that  the 
what  and  the  why  of  life  is  confined  to  three  score  years 
and  ten :  that  it  is  the  "  economic  structure  of  society  " 

—  the  relationships  sustained  by  men  in  the  production 
and  exchange  of  commodities  for  individual  profit  —  re- 
acting upon  the  "  tool-using  animal  "  that  has  induced  a 
mass  consciousness  of  which  the  individual  partakes. 
But,  angels  and  men  defend  us!  The  conscious  prin- 
ciple —  that  which  makes  us  each  an  individual  soul, 
fit  for  immortal  life,  is  what  this  latest  heresy  would 
rob  the  race  of.  Socialists  would  substitute  for  the 
image  of  God  a  mere  by-product  of  the  clash  between  eco- 
nomic classes.  Something  like  the  light  struck  by  flint 
against  flint  is  produced  as  economic  class  strikes  against 
economic  class  —  the  combat  being  perpetual.  This 
never  ceasing  strife  polishes  up  the  wits  that  have  some- 
how come  from  "  matter  in  motion  "  as  the  final  cause 
of  the  human  race.  Something  as  the  pebbles  on  the 
shore  are  polished  by  the  thunderous  ocean  as  the  tide 
heaves  in  and  out,  so  are  the  wits  of  the  individuals  — 
the  cells  of  the  social  organism  —  sharpened  as  one  set 

—  the  capitalists  —  fight  in  taking  and  holding  from  the 
other  set  —  the  workers  —  who  likewise  fight  to  hold 
and  to  keep  the  wealth  that  is  produced. 

Their  theory  has  it  that  from  class-consciousness  there 
shall  evolve  race-consciousness,  when  the  fight  has  been 
fought  to  the  finish.  Then  harmony  shall  reign,  since 
a  "  classless  society  "  will  have  but  one  interest  —  self- 
interest  in  improving  its  methods  of  production  for  the 


42  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUllE 

benefit  of  all  its  individuals  —  its  cells.  The  end  all 
and  be  all  of  life  shall  come.  Let  all  eat,  drink  and  be 
merry  for  to-morrow  all  die.  Alas !  poor  Yorick ! 
Why  should  a  live  cell  speculate  about  a  dead  cell  ? 

Surely  not  a  little  study  is  necessary  to  learn  the 
meaning  lying  within  the  cumbersome  language  of  the 
man,  who  above  all  others  has  laid  down  the  dogmas 
of  the  Socialist  cult.  Yet,  it  is  evident  that  Marx's 
followers  the  world  over  have  mastered  the  irrational 
system  of  thought  and  are  in  general  accord  with  their, 
German  master. 

Throwing  aside  the  moral  obligation  under  which  we 
all  stand  towards  God,  our  fellow  men,  and  towards  our- 
selves as  "  meaningless  and  confusing  "  a  leading  Ameri- 
can authority  —  Morris  Hillquit  —  sets  down  his  al- 
legiance to  the  spurious  principle  that  the  one  only  fac- 
tor relative  to  moral  enlightenment  is  the  "  purely  so- 
cial factor." 

"  The  factors  determining  the  degree  and  direction  of 
moral  development  will  be  found  in  the  philosophy  of  Karl 
Marx,  who  alone  consistently  introduced  the  spirit  of  Dar- 
winism into  the  study  of  social  phenomena  by  substituting 
the  economic  interpretation  of  history  and  the  resultant  doc- 
trine of  the  class  struggle  in  the  more  modern  stages  of  social- 
development  for  the  instinct  of  self  preservation  and  the  re- 
sulting doctrine  of  the  struggle  for  existence  in  its  lower 
stages."     ("Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice,"  pp.  51-52.) 

Denying  the  Decalogue,  by  ignoring  it,  with  the  as- 
sumption that  standards  for  human  conduct  come  up 
from  time  to  time  with  the  changing  relations  upon  the 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  43 

field  of  commerce,  Socialists  now  assume  that  the  "  mo- 
rality of  the  ruling  class  "  is  being  overcome  by  the  "  new 
morality  of  the  working  class."  Of  course,  the  rational 
view  is  that  since  the  Ten  Commandments  are  the  con- 
stant —  the  never  changing  moral  law,  they  are  as  ap- 
plicable at  an  earlier  stage  of  social  development  as  at  a 
later  date  in  the  history  of  the  race.  Yet,  Mr.  Hillquit 
follows  up  his  fallacious  argument  by  adding  two  up-to- 
date  commandments,  man-made.     To  quote  (p.  63)  : 

"  The  two  historical  slogans  given  to  the  modem  socialist 
and  labor  movement  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels, 
*  the  emancipation  of  the  working-man  can  only  be  ac- 
complished by  the  working-men  themselves  ' ;  and  '  Working- 
men  of  all  countries,  unite,  you  have  nothing  to  lose  but 
your  chains ;  you  have  a  world  to  gain ! '  may  truly  be  said 
to  be  the  main  precepts  of  the  new  morality  of  the  working- 
class." 

Plainly  it  is  not  this  materialistic  doctrine  that  at- 
tracts so  many  workers  and  holds  them  captive  to^the 
Juggernaut  car  of  the  latest  paganism.  It  is  rather  the 
stirring  of  the  holy  spirit  of  freedom  within  them  that 
by  impatience  with  the  mills  of  God  that  grind  so 
slowly,  turns  them  away  from  the  straight  and  narrow 
paths  that  must  be  trod  by  the  light  of  reason. 

The  Socialist  platforms  of  our  country  are  not  so 
coolly,  so  brazenly  atheistic^ in  setting  forth  their  fatal- 
istic standards  of  morality.  Yet,  the  Godless  basis  is 
there,  for  it  is  the  leaders  who  form  the  platform  to  at- 
tract the  attention  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  worldly 
ambitious  and  discontented  men:  of  men  with  many  a 


44  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

just  grievance  that  should  have  been  righted,  and  •would 
have  been  righted  if  there  were  to  be  found  in  every  city 
and  town  within  the  dominion  of  Csesar  ten  men  wholly 
determined  that  the  law  of  Christ  should  be  applied. 

The  key  note  of  the  1908  platform  is  struck  dogmatic- 
ally :  "  Human  life  depends  upon  food,  clothing  and 
shelter  " —  to  be  sure !  Yet,  this  is  the  lesser  half  of 
the  truth  since  human  life  depends  absolutely  upon  the 
will  of  God.  Indeed,  since  the  necessities  of  life  are, 
too,  as  truly  God's  free  gifts  to  man  as  life  itself,  it  is 
wholly  gratuitous  to  assert  that  "  Only  when  these 
things  are  assured  is  freedom,  culture  and  higher  de- 
velopment possible."  It  should  be  held  in  view  that 
higher  development,  in  the  mind  of  the  makers  of  this 
platform,  has  reference  to  the  progress  of  the  race  to- 
wards the  super-man  —  a  sort  of  creature  that  may  be 
expected  to  inhabit  the  earth,  once  the  war  of  classes  has 
climaxed  in  the  "  classless  society." 

Then,  too,  reasoning  rightly  and  consulting  our  ex- 
perfence,  we  see  that  a  state  of  human  freedom  is  en- 
tirely compatible  with  the  work  of  getting  one's  bread 
and  butter  by  whatsoever  honorable  means.  Happily, 
a  vast  number  of  our  American  population  may  testify 
to  their  religious  and  civil  liberty.  Moreover,  it  is  com- 
mon recognition  that  true  culture  is  impossible  upon 
the  materialistic  and  animalistic  foundation  of  human 
society,  because  of  the  supreme  fact  that  man  lives  not 
by  bread  alone.  Eor  just  as  true  courtesy  is  an  out- 
ward evidence  of  one's  conviction  of  the  equality  of 
human  souls,  so  is  a  broad  culture  an  outward  expression 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  45 

of  one's  intellectual  understanding  that  although  men 
have  a  vast  variety  of  natural  gifts  and  genius  in  vary- 
ing degrees,  the  services  of  one  particular  class  of  work- 
ers are  as  essential  to  the  well-being  of  our  citizenry  as 
another  —  be  those  services  rendered  by  men  of  genius 
most  highly  developed  —  since  Divine  Economy  rules 
over  the  acts  of  men  en  masse  within  the  Common- 
wealth. This  is  the  basis  of  the  equality  of  man  upon 
the  domain  of  Caesar.  Hence  when  God  is  left  out  of 
human  reckoning  the  loss  acts  upon  the  intellect  like  the 
deadly  fumes  of  gas.  It  creeps  into  the  unwary  mind 
poisoning  those  who  are  not  immuned  by  their  faith  in  a 
just  foundation  of  things  human.  Despair  is  one  of  its 
noxious  products.  What  would  be  the  use  to  work 
against  fate,  if  by  fate  both  employer  and  employee 
were  the  mere  sport  of  blind  force  ? 

Yet,  this  impossible  task  is  the  contract  that  Social- 
ism has  taken  upon  itself.  To  quote  further  from  the 
platform  of  1908  :  — "  The  capitalist  class  .  .  .  is 
bound  to  exploit  the  workers  to  the  very  limit  of  their 
endurance  and  to  sacrifice  their  physical,  moral  and 
mental  welfare  to  its  own  insatiable  greed."  Just  what 
rightful  business  the  word  "  moral  "  has  in  this  connec- 
tion no  man  can  tell !  Yet  the  explanation  is  simple. 
Mankind  is  given  a  rational  nature  and  however  hard 
one  may  try  to  slink  away  from  his  conscious  principle, 
it  abides.  The  image  of  God  is  not  to  be  blotted  out  at 
the  behest  of  man : 

"  So  loBg  as  the  light  holds  out  to  bum 
The  vilest  sinner  may  return." 


46.  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

But  not  after! 

Knowing  how  difficult,  aye  impossible,  it  is  for  even 
those  steeped  in  the  poison  of  the  "  materialistic  con- 
ception of  history  "  to  stick  to  their  text,  and  conse- 
quently that  the  true  records  of  the  race  are  freely  min- 
gled with  their  false  principle  of  economic  determinism, 
to  the  confusion  of  well-meaning  men :  that  Socialist  de- 
nunciation of  the  evils  of  the  day  —  which  in  fact  exist 
in  a  measure  hardly  to  be  exaggerated  —  seems  to  prom- 
ise to  the  lowly  that  they  are  about  to  bring  them  into 
their  own ;  knowing  that  the  wrong  cause  is  supported  — 
not  indeed  to  gain  a  mess  of  pottage  for  which  they  are 
willing  to  barter  their  souls  —  but  with  the  expectation 
that  social  justice  may  be  secured  for  all,  we  deem  it  es- 
sential to  cover  this  fatalistic  foundation  of  Socialist 
propaganda  somewhat  thoroughly.  For  it  should  be 
clearly  seen  for  what  it  is  —  the  fundamental  negation 
of  the  rational  constitution  of  the  race.  Hence  directly 
contrary  in  its  norm  of  conduct  to  those  Catholic  prin- 
ciples —  those  truths,  and  those  alone,  that  shall  save 
our  beloved  country  from  disaster. 

This  is  their  touchstone :  — "  Class  morality  "  has 
ruled  individual  morality  out  of  the  court  of  mankind, 
l^ow,  since  "  class  morality  "  is  indeed  something  new 
under  the  sun  we  shall  establish  the  fact  of  its  place 
in  this  world  movement  and  show  how  strictly  its  pre- 
cepts are  adhered  to  throughout  our  western  civilization. 

The  "  Socialist  Bible  " —  Das  Kapital  —  lays  down 
the  dogma  that  ramifies  throughout  every  department  of 
their  scheme  to  set  up  a  free  society : 


FAITH  A^D  FATALISM  47 

"  My  standpoint  from  which  the  evolution  of  the  economic 
formation  of  society  is  viewed  as  a  process  of  natural  history, 
can  less  than  any  other  make  the  individual  responsible  for 
relations  whose  creature  he  socially  remains,  however  much 
he  may  subjectively  raise  himself  above  them."  ('*  Capital," 
p.  15,  Kerr  edition.) 

First  to  make  sure  we  have  the  genuine  article  — 
made,  not  by  the  working-man  for  the  working-man,  but 
by  a  highly  gifted  German-Jew,  whose  father  had  re- 
nounced his  religious  connections  that  he  might  prac- 
tise the  profession  of  law  —  we  quote  from  the  plat- 
form of  the  Socialist  party  (1912)  of  our  own  country, 
the  gist  of  "  economic  determinism."  Having  enumer- 
ated all  the  other  agencies  that  go  to  make  up  the  struc- 
ture of  our  body  politic  as  "  absolutely  controlled  "  by 
the  capitalist  class,  the  "  religions  and  moral  agencies" 
are  set  down  as  the  climax.  Certainly  we  hold  no  brief 
for  other  religious  bodies,  but  as  obedient  lay  members 
of  the  Catholic  Church  we  protest  with  all  our  mind, 
heart  and  strength  that  Her  activities  here  on  earth  are 
neither  "  subsidized  "  nor  controlled  by  the  capitalist 
class.  Not  one  of  the  15,817  Parish  Churches  nor  one 
of  the  6642  Parish  Schools,  academies,  colleges  and 
universities  is  under  the  control  of  any  group  of  capi- 
talists nor  of  any  individual  capitalist.  It  is  God's 
word  —  Christ  and  Him  Crucified  —  that  is  preached, 
for  the  love  of  souls.  The  Commandments  and  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount  give  the  standards  for  Christian  mo- 
rality ;  while  on  every  Sunday  in  the  year  the  gospel  les- 
son is  set  forth  with  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  prac- 


48  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

tical  application  of  the  law  and  the  counsels  of  Christ 
to  the  every-day  relations  of  life  —  personal,  social,  civil 
and  domestic.  From  infancy  to  death  Catholics  are 
under  the  direct  influence  and  in  holy  association  with 
the  Giver  of  Life  —  of  Justice  —  of  Love. 

However,  one  word  aside  from  our  main  purpose  may 
be  said  regarding  the  Socialist  platform.  Notwith- 
standing its  utterly  perverse  basis  there  are  many 
measures  listed  to  which  right-minded  men  may  freely 
give  assent.  Measures  that  good  citizens  strive  to  have 
enacted  into  our  statutes  and  enforced.  But  these 
measures  do  not  follow  as  a  consequence  from  the 
morally  irresponsible  doctrine  of  Socialism.  Quite  to 
the  contrary  they  are  grounded  in  Chrisian  principles. 
One  may  look  back  to  the  days  of  the  craft  guilds  — 
when  society  was  directed  by  the  Vicar  of  Christ  —  to 
see  many  of  them,  not  merely  advocated,  but  in  practise. 
The  shorter  hour  working  day;  better  sanitary  condi- 
tions in  factories,  mines  and  mills ;  the  abolition  of  child 
labor;  better  housing  conditions;  craft  insurance;  em- 
ployment for  the  unemployed ;  reclamation  of  arid  and 
swamp  lands;  etc.,  etc.,  are  frankly  used  by  Socialist 
parties  for  propaganda  purposes.  Socialist  leaders 
know  very  well  that  once  men  have  been  attracted  by 
measures  to  the  advantage  of  the  wage-earners  and  so 
induced  to  take  the  first  step,  by  voting  their  ticket,  they 
may  be  initiated  later,  ""  and  then,  after  we  have  made 
them  members  of  the  Socialist  Party,  we  can  talk  to 
them  inside  our  ranJcs,  talk  of  the  higher  philosophies 
and  of  the  logical  consequences  of  our  explanation  of 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  49 

society  and  nature."     (Ernest  Unterman,  OflScial  Pro- 
ceedings S.  P.  Convention,  Indianapolis,  1908.) 

The  explanation  is  indeed  crucial.  Yet,  it  is  in  sub- 
stance given  at  the  conclusion  of  the  Practical  Measures 
of  the  platform,  1912. 

"  Such  measures  of  relief  as  we  may  be  able  to  force  from 
capitalism  are  but  a  preparation  of  the  workers  to  seize  the 
whole  power  of  government,  in  order  that  they  may  thereby 
lay  hold  of  the  whole  system  of  industry  and  thus  come  to 
their  rightful  inheritance." 

The  working  class  is  thus  taken  under  the  tutelage  of 
Socialists  who  propose  to  initiate  them  in  that  see  of 
their  political  power  by  which  every  mother's  son  has 
his  private  property  in  capital,  well  gotten  or  illy  gotten, 
taken  from  him.  Thus  it  is  clear  that  treason  and  theft 
are  held  to  be  the  "  class  morality  "  by  which  workmen 
may  come  into  "  their  rightful  inheritance."  Yet,  since 
it  was  ''  the  introduction  and  spread  of  salad-oil "  that 
has  put  agnosticism  almost  if  not  quite  at  a  respectable 
par  with  the  Church  of  England  (Engels  — "  Socialism 
Utopian  and  Scientific  ")  who  knows  but  that  uy  will  be 
down  and  right  will  be  lejt  even  in  our  own  day  ?  Es- 
pecially as  Prof.  Charles  Zueblin  (Conference  on  Social- 
ism, Chickering  Hall,  Boston)  has  lent  the  great  weight 
of  his  dictum  to  them  in  making  down  up  and  up  down : 
"  The  International  Socialist  movement  does  more  to 
preach  unflinching  morality  than  any  other  organization 
in  the  world." 

Surely  from  this  time   on  chaos  should  be  order. 


50  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Hold !  We  are  saved  by  material  intervention !  Since 
Jane  Addams  —  "  Nevs^er  Ideals  of  Peace  "  makes  it 
certain  that : 

"  The  Socialists  are  making  almost  the  sole  attempt  to 
preach  a  morality  sufficiently  all  embracing  and  international 
to  keep  pace  with  material  internationalism  which  has 
standardized  the  threads  of  screws  and  the  size  of  bolts." 

Who  will  now  have  the  least  possible  doubt  that  the 
"  standardization  "  of  the  threads  of  screws  and  the  size 
of  bolts  will  work  even  a  greater  regeneration  in  the 
morals  of  the  race  than  the  spread  in  the  use  of  salad 
oil  ?  It  alone,  reduced  English  churchmen  and  agnos- 
tics to  one  dead  level,  almost,  why  then  put  a  limit  to 
the  effectiveness  of  a  truly  mechanical  device  ?  Again ! 
This  "  scientific  knowledge  "  is  having  a  wider  circula- 
tion than  is  given  by  Miss  Addams'  book  by  itself.  The 
Socialists  know  their  own  when  they  see  it.  Besides 
being  the  one  and  only  authority  on  the  "  philosophy  of 
life  "  they  know  who  are  and  who  are  not  Christians. 
Quite  consistently  they  use  in  "  War :  What  For  ?  "  —  a 
book  well  calculated  "  to  drain  the  recruiting  stations 
and  thin  the  ranks  of  soldiery "  — this  identical  quo- 
tation with  the  introduction  —  "  Listen  again  —  to  the 
hest-Tcnown  and  the  test-loved  Christian  woman  in  the 
United  States,  Miss  Jane  Addams,  of  Hull  House, 
Chicago." 

A  newer  ideal  with  a  vengeance !  —  a  morality  that 
finds  its  sanction  in  material  progress,  and  if  it  would 
be  up  to  date,  must  keep  pace  with  international  pro- 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  51 

duetions.  A  morality  that  has  quite  stripped  itself  free 
from  God's  law  —  that  is  never  new,  never  old,  but  ever 
ready  for  application  to  whatsoever  changes  the  genius 
of  race  may  bring  about,  for  the  material  well-being  of 
mankind.  Alas !  When  women  join  in  spreading 
darkness  for  light  —  a  process  as  old  as  the  hills  upon 
which  his  Satanic  Majesty  first  tempted  men  to  their 
eternal  damnation  —  it  is  time  for  the  most  prejudiced 
against  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  interest  of  their 
country,  if  not  for  the  love  of  the  faith,  to  sweep  their 
spirit  in  the  dead  of  the  night. 

No,  the  Socialist  party  platform  is  not  a  commentary. 
One  must  go  to  their  leaders  to  learn  what  in  fact  is  be- 
neath the  planks  of  the  platform.  Long  ago,  Wilhelm 
Liebknecht  —  an  international  authority,  said  in  "  So- 
ciaism :  What  It  Is  and  What  It  Seeks,"  "  the  agita- 
tors, the  journalists  and  the  learned  of  the  party  must 
give  the  commentary/'  Quite  so!  Especially  since 
the  platforms  are  largely  shaped  to  attract  raw  recruits, 
rather  than  to  give  an  adequate  idea  of  what  the  party 
really  stands  for.  Who,  save  the  veteran  followers  of 
Marx,  Engels,  Hillquit,  Debs  and  Berger,  in  the  State 
of  Ohio,  could  tell  what  their  platform  of  five  words 
calls  for?  "The  World  for  the  Workers"  (1918). 
Yet,  after  all  is  said  their  grand  objective  is  as  vague  as 
these  five  words  to  the  novice.  Stated  in  their  own 
^ terms  their  positive  objective  is  necessarily  obscure. 
The  "  expropriation  "  of  the  capitalist  class  —  thq  tak- 
ing of  land  and  capital  now  in  private  hands  and  making 
them  collective  property  to  be  administered  in  a  "  class- 


52  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

less  "  society,  cannot  be  intellectually  grasped  since  a 
"  classless  "  society  is  irrational,  therefore  meaningless. 
This  basic  objection  has  never  been  fairly  faced.  When 
the  leaders  are  asked  how  their  principles  are  to  be 
successfully  carried  out,  they  ring  a  multitude  of 
changes  all  pitched  in  the  classic  key  given  by  Marx: 
"  We  are  not  making  cook-shop  receipts  for  the  future 
society" 

Why,  then,  should  one  bother  about  the  immorality  of 
Socialist  standards  if  their  objective  is  irrational  ?  Let 
their  movement  come  to  naught.  The  answer  is,  that 
men  are  not  deprived  of  their  active  principle  because 
they  hold  immoral  notions,  nor  because  their  aims  are 
not  rational,  neither  because  the  foundation  of  their 
movement  is  false.  The  danger  is  in  the  fact  that  al- 
though the  Socialist  movement  is  incapable  of  construc- 
tion   it    is    quite    capable    of    destruction.     Besides 

—  and     this     is     the     pith     of     the     whole  matter 

—  if  their  propaganda  did  not  rotate  around  a 
body  of  truth  it  could  not  gather  a  destructive  force  of 
any  social  consequence.  What  lover  of  economic  justice 
does  not  respond  to  the  demand  of  the  wage-earners  for 
their  just  share  in  the  advantages  of  the  wealth  they 
produce  ?  What  lover  of  civil  liberty  does  not  desire  to 
see  men  free  within  the  restrictions  of  a  just 
government  ?  Borrowing  these  great  principles  from 
Christian  morality  and  citing  their  flagrant  abuses  in 
our  modern  society,  gives  a  holy  fire  to  the  words  of  these 
false  prophets,  enabling  them  to  lead  a  multitude  of  un- 
critical men  the  wrong  way  for  the  right  thing.     It 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  53 

was  ever  thus !  —  having  incited  the  mob,  it  cries  out 
"  Crucify  Him !  Crucify  Him !  "  If  we  would  see 
what  disaster,  what  horror,  a  little  truth,  with  a  deal  of 
error,  can  do  let  us  look  at  Russia.  There  the  majority 
of  the  Socialist  movement  —  the  Bolsheviki  —  attempt- 
ing to  carry  out  their  ideal  program  for  creating  a 
classless  society  gives  us  a  spectacle  that  tells  its  own 
tale. 

Our  obligation  is  plain  —  right  relations  and  condi- 
tions bring  peace  within  the  Commonwealth. 

But,  since  the  generality  must  be  convinced  that  the 
stability  of  our  country  is  menaced  we  shall  do  what 
we  can  for  its  safety  by  permitting  Socialist  authorities 
to  set  forth  their  own  doctrine  in  their  own  way.  No 
possible  denunciation  of  their  perverse  principles  could 
be  as  conclusive,  to  those  who  are  able  to  appreciate  the 
full  meaning  of  their  statements. 

Running  true  —  but  far  ahead  —  of  its  Protestant 
origin  by  its  denial  of  the  authority  of  Christ's  Vicar 
to  regulate  the  conduct  of  kings  with  regard  to  the  in- 
herent rights  of  their  peoples  and  with  regard  to  their 
moral  conduct  one  towards  another.  Socialism  repudiates 
moral  authority  altogether.  Thus  reducing  the  power 
of  what  is  right  below  the  level  of  the  power  of  might. 
Hence  the  majority  may  work  its  own  human  will. 

Because  of  their  utter  repudiation  of  absolute  author- 
ity the  study  of  Socialism  obliges  one  to  give  chief  con- 
sideration to  what  is  denied  rather  than  to  what  is  af- 
firmed, in  order  to  view  their  standards  of  thought  and 
conduct  from  the  proper  perspective. 


54  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Socialism  Denies  the  Existence  of  God  —  Therehy 
repudiating  the  first  principle  of  morality. 

"  When  science  began  to  establish  the  fact  of  the  mechani- 
cal origin  of  the  universe  "  it  "  threw  the  theological  creator 
out  of  his  own  creation."  (Ernest  Unterman,  "  Science  and 
Kevolution,"  pp.  158-159.) 

"  Socialism  knows  the  absence  or  impairment  of  the  belief 
in  God  is  one  of  the  most  powerful  factors  for  its  (Social- 
ism's) extension,  because  the  priests  of  all  religions  have 
been,  throughout  all  phases  of  history,  the  most  potent  allies 
of  the  ruling  classes  in  keeping  the  masses  pliant  and  sub- 
missive under  the  yoke  by  means  of  the  enchantment  of 
religion,  just  as  the  tamer  keeps  a  wild  beast  submissive  by 
the  terrors  of  the  cracks  of  his  whip."  (Enrico  Eerri, 
"  Socialism  and  Modern  Science,"  p.  63.) 

Socialism  denies  that  man  is  made  in  the  image  of 
God  —  Therefore,  he  is  devoid  of  divine  attributes. 

"  In  the  image  of  himself  (man)  he  created  Him  (God) ; 
not  vice  versa."  (August  Bebel,  "  Woman  and  Socialism," 
p.  438.) 

"  It  is  no  longer  God  and  Man,  nor  even  Man  and  God, 
but  Man  only,  with  God  an  anthropomorphic  shadow,  related 
to  man  not  as  his  creator,  but  as  created  by  him.  God  and 
Man  are  not  '  two  '  but  in  reality  '  one.'  "  (Arthur  Morrow 
Lewis,  "  Evolution  Social  and  Organic,"  p.  133.) 

Socialism  denies  belief  in  religion  —  Thereby  re- 
pudiating all  moral  standards  for  thought,  word  and 
deed. 

"  Keligion  is  the  opium  of  the  people.     It  is  the  striving  of 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  55 

the  people  for  an  imaginary  happiness.  It  springs  from  a 
state  of  society  that  requires  an  illusion."  (Karl  Marx, 
"  Critique  of  the  Philosophy  of  Law  by  Hegel.") 

Reporting  to  the  National  Socialist  Party  Convention, 
Indianapolis,  May  12-28,  1912  (Proceedings,  p.  247- 
248)  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  ISTational  Lettish 
organization  urges  opposition  to  Christian  morality: 

"  The  ethics  of  Socialism  and  religion  are  directly  opposed 
to  each  other.  Christianity  teaches  brotherly  love  for  all. 
Socialism  discriminates  among  social  classes.  It  (Socialism) 
preaches  the  class  struggle  among  those  whose  interests  are 
opposed.  .  .  .  the  Church  puts  the  stamp  of  approval  (good) 
or  disapproval  (bad),  according  to  some  superhuman  ethics, 
dictated  by  a  being  unknown  to  mankind." 

"  While  large  masses  of  the  people  are  completely  in 
ignorance  about  the  most  elementary  parts  of  natural  science 
it  is  an  easy  task  for  the  Church  to  beguile  the  workers 
and  to  make  them  intellectual  cripples.  Once  they  have 
become  such,  they  gladly  accept  the  spiritual  crutches  ex- 
tended to  them  by  the  servants  of  the  Church.  .  .  ." 

"  Our  members  ought  to  be  enlightened  about  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  universe,  development  of  mankind,  and  other 
important  matters  of  natural  science  in  order  that  any  kind 
of  superstition  may  be  eliminated  from  midst  our  ranks." 

This  self-same  hostile  attitude  towards  religion  is 
taken  in  every  country.  The  British  Socialist  Party 
Manifesto  (1911)  that  is  "issued  not  as  the  view  of  an 
individiml  hut  as  the  accepted  manifesto  of  the  Socialist 
party  on  the  subject  of  Socialism  and  Beligion,"  begins 
by  quoting  Karl  Marx  that  religion  is  a  mere  "  reflex 
of  the  real  world  "  and  that  the  "  mystical  veil,"  religion, 


56  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

will  be  "  stripped  off  "  when  we  shall  have  "  a  society 
of  freely  associated  men."  The  Manifesto  then  pro- 
ceeds in  its  own  language : 

"It  is,  therefore,  a  profound  truth  that  Socialism  is  the 
natural  enemy  of  religion..  Through  Socialism  alone  will 
the  relations  between  men  in  society,  and  their  relations  to 
Nature,  become  reasonable,  orderly,  and  completely  intelligi- 
ble, leaving  no  nook  or  cranny  for  superstition.  The  entry 
of  Socialism  is  consequently,  the  exodus  of  religion." 

Socialism  denies  the  claims  of  the  old  Jewish  theory 
and  the  claims  of  the  religion  of  Christ  that  morality 
and  ethics  are  fundamentally  based  upon  religion  — 
the  relations  of  man  to  his  Maker. 

"Morality  and  ethics  have  nothing  to  do  with  organized 
religion.  The  contrary  is  asserted  only  by  weak-minded 
persons  and  hypocrites."  (August  Bebel,  "  Woman  and 
Socialism,"  p.  321.) 

Socialism,  denies  eternal  principles  —  the  necessity 
of  universal  standards. 

"  There  never  could  be  and  there  cannot  be  a  standard  of 
moral  principles  suitable  to  all  times  and  conditions." 
(Philip  Eappaport,  Chicago,  1913,  "Looking  Forward,"  p. 
93.) 

"  Truth  is  relative,  not  absolute.  There  are  no  absolute 
standards  of  right  and  wrong."  (Joseph  Cohen,  "  Socialism 
for  Students,"  p.  120.) 

So  easily  —  by  mere  denial  —  is  God,  Revealed  re- 
ligion and  the  Ten  Commandments  ruled  out  of  reckon- 


FAITH  A^D  FATALISM  57 

ing  by  the  followers  of  those  who  pose  as  having  the 
only  rational  view  of  life,  in  retrospect  and  in  prospect. 
Upon  their  imperial  a^is  of  denial.  Socialists  proceed  to 
lay  down  the  law.  Surely  the  universal  practise 
amongst  men  of  judging  this  good  and  that  bad  must 
be  accounted  for.  Consequently  they  had  better  begin 
with  the  customs  of  savage  tribes.  Why  ?  Oh !  because 
—  the  knowledge  we  have  of  these  peoples  is  our  latest 
acquisition.  Is  it  not  plain  that  our  earliest  records, 
both  inspired  or  secular,  were  written  by  civilized 
peoples.  Thus  the  less  we  know  the  more  Socialists  as- 
sume to  know  about  the  infancy  of  the  race. 

With  neither  spiritual  light  nor  human  intelligence 
to  begin  with  —  albeit  God's  perfect  creation  to  the 
contrary  —  men  must  await  their  time  to  "  learn  to 
produce  food  in  abundance "  before  "  the  practise  of 
man-eating  and  killing  its  own  members  becomes  im- 
moral." ("Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practise" — 
Hillquit,  p.  53.)  Ergo,  this  the  proof  that  moral  stand- 
ards are  evolutionary  —  not  eternally  fixed.  Moreover, 
to  give  good  measure  and  some  thrown  in,  it  is  taken  for 
granted  that  cannibalism  was  the  common  "  moral " 
practise  during  the  infancy  of  the  race.  Of  course,  one 
must  naturally  be  given  a  lower  standard  from  which  to 
evolve  upward.  Yet,  since  both  history  and  science  are 
agreed  that  cannibalism  has  been  found  only  in  isolated 
instances  as  a  food  supply,  and  then  amongst  degen- 
erate tribes,  somehow  the  underpinning  of  Socialist 
"  morals "  has  dropped  out  altogether.  Happily  our 
native  Americans  have  rather  a  clean  record : 


58  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  Cannibalism  simply  for  the  sake  of  food  could  hardly  be 
said  to  exist  (among  Indians),  but,  as  a  war  ceremony  or 
sacrifice  following  a  savage  triumph,  the  custom  was  very 
general,  particularly  on  the  Texas  coast  and  among  the  Iro- 
quoian  and  Algonquian  tribes  of  the  east."  (Professor  James 
Mooney,  U.  S.  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  Washington, 
D.  C,  p.  750,  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  7.) 

If  not  history,  nor  science,  then  a  little  logical  think- 
ing should  be  of  service  to  those  who  are  wont  to  con- 
demn the  evils  of  our  day  with  the  principles  set  forth 
by  the  Ten  Commandments  —  the  natural  law  im- 
planted in  each  and  every  one  of  the  human  race.  For 
they  have  but  to  view  their  own  inconsistency  by  con- 
trasting the  principles  with  which  they  win  sympathy, 
from  those  who  defend  the  oppressed,  and  the  fatuity 
with  which  they  set  out  their  hope  for  a  "  free  society." 
Evidently  it  has  not  yet  occurred  to  these  doctrinaires 
that  if  there  were  no  static  force,  there  would  be  nothing 
by  which  to  recognize  the  opposite  —  dynamic  force. 
And,  thus,  to  reason,  the  moral  law  necessarily  holds 
as  against  all  pressure  against  it  by  its  opposite  —  im- 
moral force.  Yet,  if  neither  history,  science  nor  logical 
thinking,  from  a  basic  ground  that  satisfies  human 
reason,  finds  favor,  there  remains  conscience.  It  per- 
sists—  calling  men  back  to  the  natural  law  of  their 
being.  And  at  the  end  of  life  there  is  the  Judgment. 
'No,  hell  is  not  paved  with  good  intentions,  and  the  law 
is  not  far  away  from  any  one  of  us. 

"  Quidquid  fit  eontraconscientiam,  sedificat  ad  gehennam  " 
—  The  rule  and  measure  of  duty  is  not  utility,  nor  expedience. 


FAITH  AJSTD  FATALISM  59 

nor  the  happiness  of  the  greatest  number,  nor  State  con- 
venience, nor  fitness,  order  and  the  pulchrum.  Conscience  is 
not  a  long-sighted  selfishness,  nor  a  desire  to  be  consistent 
with  oneself;  but  it  is  a  messenger  from  Him  Who  both  in 
nature  and  in  grace,  speaks  to  us  behind  a  veil,  and  teaches 
and  rules  us  by  His  representatives.  Conscience  is  the  Vicar 
of  Christ,  a  prophet  in  its  informations,  a  monarch  in  its 
peremptoriness,  a  priest  in  its  blessings  and  anathemas,  and 
even  though  the  eternal  priesthood  throughout  the  Church 
could  cease  to  be,  in  it  the  sacerdotal  principle  would  remain 
and  would  have  sway."  (The  Fourth  Lateran  Council  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  A.  D.  1215.) 

Seeing  that  their  denials  would  sweep  away  the  foun- 
dation of  things  rational,  let  us  now  turn  the  tables  and 
see  what  Socialists  set  forth  as  their  positive  doctrine. 

Socialism  asserts  man's  origin  from  the  brute  creation, 
unqualifiedly. 

"Darwin  dealt  the  metaphysical  concept  of  Nature  the 
heaviest  blow  by  his  proof  that  all  organic  human  beings, 
plants,  animals,  and  man  himself,  are  the  products  of  a 
process  of  evolution  going  on  through  millions  of  years." 
(Frederick  Engels,  "  Socialism  Utopian  and  Scientific,"  p. 
83.) 

"  Neither  as  a  thinking  man  nor  as  a  moral  being  is  man 
essentially  different  from  the  animal"  (p.  119).  "Probably 
man  is  not  sprung  from  the  highest  type  of  apes,  the  man 
apes,  which  are  tending  to  die  out,  but  from  a  lower  species 
of  four-handed  animals"  (p.  75).  (Karl  Kautsky,  "Ethics 
and  the  Materialist  Conception  of  History.") 

Not  to  call  upon  religious  experience  for  testimony, 
the  objection  is,  that  neither  science  nor  common  knowl- 


60  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

edge  upholds  this  dictum  of  no  essential  difference  be- 
tween mankind  and  the  animals.  Just  to  the  contrary, 
since  "  animals  do  not  think"  Animals  have  not  the 
positive  art  principle;  man  is  so  endowed.  When  ani- 
mals build  it  is  according  to  a  design  that  they  work 
out  by  instinct.  It  is  God's  wisdom,  of  which  they 
partake  non-consciously,  that  guides  them.  When  ani- 
mals are  domesticated,  the  will  of  man  dominates  their 
acts  to  that  degree  which  makes  them  useful  to  him. 
Man  is  the  "  tool-using  animal "  for  the  sufficient  reason 
that  he  has  reason  plus  instinct.  Animals  use  sub- 
stances and  forces  negatively  —  they  act  in  negative 
obedience  —  with  perfect  conformity  —  to  the  law  of 
their  being.  On  the  contrary,  man  uses  substances,  ob- 
jects and  forces  positively;  knowingly  he  carries  out  his 
own  positively  created  designs.  God  gives  the  animals 
—  all  things  of  natural  creation  —  which  by  his  intui- 
tion man  sees  to  be  good  for  his  purposes.  By  his  free 
will  man  selects  this  and  that.  Having  created  his 
designs  out  of  that  immaterial  stuff  that  the  human  mind 
alone  is  capable  of  using,  the  man  proceeds  to  work  up 
the  things  he  has  appropriated,  from  the  natural  store- 
house, into  utilities.  So  it  is  that  by  universal  experi- 
ence an  immeasurable  gulf  has  ever  been  known  to  lie 
between  the  brute  creation  and  the  human  race. 

Not  only  do  Socialists  hold  this  gross  error  —  that 
man  is  different  only  in  degree,  not  in  kind,  from  the 
animals  —  as  against  the  common  testimony  of  all  the 
ages  but  they  will  not  yield  even  to  the  world's  most 
reputable  and  renowned  scientists  in  the  matter.     Even 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  61 

though  "  newspaper  "  science  still  flatters  this  ignorant 
assumption  it  should  be  the  common  knowledge  of  criti- 
cal minds  that  the  great  biologists  hold  the  undivided 
opinion  that  there  is  no  data  extant  to  prove  the  so- 
called  Darwinian  evolutionary  theory  of  man's  animal 
descent.  Yet,  since  the  fact  is  that  "  a  comprehensive 
grasp  of  the  Socialist  philosophy  implies  a  Tcnoxvledge  of 
Darwinian  theories"  ("Evolution  Social  and  Or- 
ganic," p.  41,  A.  M.  Lewis),  the  conclusion  is  that  both 
the  one  and  the  other  is  quite  out  of  reason,  since  tbey 
are  in  unity. 

Together  with  other  of  the  world's  greatest  authorities 
on  this  matter  may  be  found  the  names  of  many  priests 
and  Catholic  laymen.  Eev.  H,  Muckermann,  S.  J.,  pro- 
fessor of  biology,  thus  concludes  an  article  (Catholic 
Encyclopedia,  Vol.  5,  p.  670)  : 

"  There  is  no  evidence  in  favor  of  an  ascending  evolution 
of  organic  forms.  For  there  is  no  trace  of  even  a  merely 
probable  argument  in  favor  of  the  animal  origin  of  man. 
The  earliest  human  fossils  and  the  most  ancient  traces  of 
culture  refer  to  a  true  Homosapiens  as  we  know  him  to-day." 

With  one  prominent  exception,  it  may  fairly  be  said 
that  the  leading  men  of  science  hold  the  views  quoted 
from  Fr.  Muckermann.  That  one  exception  is  rather 
a  camouflage,  than  an  endorsement  of  the  theory  of 
man's  origin  from  the  ape.  For  it  was  the  misfortune 
—  or  mayhap  fortune  —  of  Ernest  Haeckel  to  be  dis- 
credited at  the  college  of  Jena  —  by  his  German  as- 
sociates in  science  —  for  using  flctitious  diagrams  of  the 


62  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

"  missing  link  "  in  the  interest  of  a  blood  connection  be- 
tween the  man  and  the  monkey. 

In  his  brilliant  and  scholarly  book  — "  The  Oldest 
Riddle  and  the  Newest  Answer  "  (London,  1904)  —  a 
reply  to  Haeckel,  John  Gerard,  S.J.,  F.L.S.,  gives  a  list 
of  Continental  scholars  "  all  of  whom  either  reject  Dar- 
winism altogether,  or  admit  it  only  with  fatal  reserva- 
tions."    Viz : 

Blanchard,  Wigaud,  Wolff,  Hamann,  Pauly,  Driesch,  Plate, 
Hertwig,  Heer,  Kolliker,  Emier,  Von  Hartmann,  Schilde, 
Du  Bois-Eeymond,  Virchow,  Rageli,  Schaafhauser,  Fechner, 
Jakob,  Huber,  Joseph  Raiike,  and  Van  Bauer.  An  equally 
long  list  of  American  scholars  could  be  named.  Let  us 
quote  from  two.  Dr.  N.  S.  Shaler,  professor  of  geology  at 
Harvard  University,  once  an  advocate  of  the  Darwinian 
theory  of  evolution  says:  "It  begins  to  be  evident  to 
naturalists,  that  the  Darwinian  hypothesis  is  still  essentially 
unverified.  Notwithstanding  the  evidence  derived  from  the 
study  of  animals  and  plants  imder  domestication,  it  is  not 
yet  proved  that  a  single  species  of  the  two  or  three  millions 
now  inhabitating  the  earth  had  been  established  solely,  or 
mainly  by  the  operation  of  natural  selection." 

"  Professor  Arthur  Keith  in  '  The  Antiquity  of  Man,' 
speaking  of  the  latest  discovery  —  the  Neanderthal  Man, 
observed:  'When  we  come  to  review  critically  the  facts 
relating  to  the  earlier  discoveries,  made  in  England,  Prance 
and  Italy,  we  were  compelled  to  admit  that  men  of  the 
modern  type  had  been  in  existence  long  before  the  extinction 
of  the  Neanderthal  type.'" 

But  Socialists  are  not  to  be  turned  back  from  their 
confidence  in  the  novelty  of  Darwinism  merely  because 
twenftieth-century  scientists  repudiate  its  claims.     Their 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  63 

mechanical  theory  renders  them  science-proof.  Neither 
the  lack  of  data  nor  the  force  of  argument  is  of  any  avail. 
"  If  science  has  departed  from  Socialism  so  much  the 
worse  for  science.'^  Did  not  Marx  discover  the  science 
of  life  ?  —  that  "  mind  is  matter  in  motion  "  ?  What 
then  care  they  what  other  people  think  or  say.  The 
agnostics  who  still  question  whether  or  not  God  exists 
are  quite  too  pink  and  white  for  their  red  blood.  Only 
in  their  most  ideological  mood  is  the  word  soul  employed 
and  then,  of  course,  it  has  completely  changed  its  mean- 
ing. In  the  "  Evolution  of  Man  "  —  a  book  most  in- 
dustriously circulated,  one  lecturer  alone  disposing  of 
two  entire  editions  —  an  appeal  is  made  from  the  depths 
of  his  human  "  soul,"  since  all  are  brothers,  never  to 
step  on  a  beetle : 

"  And  from  the  depths  of  the  human  soul,  .  .  .  still  an- 
other voice  whispers  into  my  inner  ear.  ...  It  is  that  other 
simple  message  which  tells  us :  '  Thou  shalt  not  torture  any 
animal  uselessly;  thou  shalt  not  wantonly  break  any  flower, 
for  they,  too,  are  distant  relations  in  the  great  flow  of  life, 
they,  too,  are  still  your  brothers  in  the  unfathomable  recesses 
of  nature.  Helpless  stands  that  flower,  or  that  glittering 
little  beetle  before  you,  just  like  a  trembling  little  child. 
But  the  child  grows  up  into  a  man,  and  who  knows  what 
this  flower  or  that  beetle  may  become  some  day,  or  what 
may  have  become  of  others  like  them,  millions  of  years  ago !  " 
(P.  12,  William  Bolsche.) 

Assuming  the  chemical  and  mechanical  origin  of  the 
universe :     Socialism  denies  free  will. 

Blotting  out   free  will   is   simple   enough  by   their 


64  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

method  —  dogmatism  resting  on  desire.  The  stubborn 
facts  that  attest  the  freedom  of  man's  will  are  brushed 
airily  to  one  side  in  their  desire  to  prove  what  is  not  so 
— the  absence  of  an  intelligent  First  Cause. 

Failing  first  of  all  to  distinguish  between  the  organic 
and  the  inorganic:  failing  again  to  make  the  vital  dis- 
tinction between  the  animal  acts  and  the  rational  acts 
of  the  individual  man,  Socialists  argue  that  the  free 
will  of  man  postulates  acts  without  causes.  In  other 
words  they  deny  self-determination  to  the  soul.  And 
this  is  but  carrying  atheism  to  its  logical  conclusion. 
If,  indeed,  a  "  causeless  cause "  rests  behind  all  phe- 
nomena there  is,  of  course,  no  intelligent  cause  any- 
where to  be  found,  neither  within  nor  without.  Now 
this  argument  proves  too  much,  for  the  fact  of  the  mat- 
ter is  that  the  rational  view  is  compelled  by  the  human 
experience  of  all  the  ages  to  acknowledge,  that  within 
an  environment  where  cause  and  effect  act  and  react 
according  to  the  reign  of  physical,  material  and  animal 
law  the  human  mind,  at  will,  can  interject  acts  free 
from  the  determination  that  results  from  mere  material 
causes.  That  is  to  say,  man  is  endowed  by  his  positive 
art  principle  with  the  capacity  to  create  within  creation 
a  material  phenomena  that  is  easily  distinguished  from 
the  works  of  nature  herself  and,  too,  he  is  able  to  create 
a  psychology  that  is  morally  good  or  bad.  So  it  is 
against  universal  experience  and  right-reason  that 
Socialists  assert  that: 

"  The  Marxist  absolutely  denies  the  freedom  of  the  will. 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  65 

Every  human  action  is  inevitable."     ("  Socialism,  Positive 
and  Negative,"  p.  65,  Eobert  Rives  La  Monte.) 

"  The  will  does  not  choose  of  itself,  as  was  supposed  by 
the  inventors  of  free  will,  that  product  of  the  impotency  of 
the  psychological  analysis  not  yet  arrived  at  maturity." 
("Essays  on  the  Materialistic  Conception  of  History,"  An- 
tonio Labriola,  p.  206.) 

"  The  admission  of  the  Free-will  is  out  of  the  question  " 
(Enrico  Ferri). 

The  admission  of  free  will  certainly  would  be  out  of 
the  question  if  Socialists  could  first  blot  out  the  exist- 
ence of  God,  and,  then,  the  fact  of  civilization  itself. 
For  the  mind  reasoning  rightly  asserts  the  existence  of 
Supreme  Intelligence  and  the  fact  of  civilization  proves 
human  intelligence  in  the  construction  of  every  city 
and  town  where  within  certain  limits  free  choice  is 
shown.     Enrico  Ferri  proceeds: 

"Free  will  would  imply  that  the  human  will,  confronted 
by  the  choice  of  making  voluntary  a  certain  determination, 
has  the  last  decisive  word  under  the  pressure  of  circumstances 
contending  for  and  against  this  decision:  .  .  ."  (P.  65, 
"  The  Positive  School  of  Criminology,"  Chicago,  1913.) 

The  retort  scientific  is  —  it  has !  It  may  be  left  to 
Robert  Blatchford  to  put  their  fatalistic  doctrine  into 
the  mouth  of  the  soap-boxer  to  be  passed  on  with  speed 
to  the  army  of  the  Revolution: 

"  If  our  heredity  and  our  environment  be  good,  we  must 
act  well,  we  cannot  help  it;  if  they  be  ill,  we  must  act  ill, 
we  cannot  help  it.  Suppose  a  tramp  has  murdered  a  child 
on  the  highway,  has  robbed  her  of  a  few  coppers  and  has 
thrown  her  body  into  a  ditch :    Do  you  mean  to  say  that 


66  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

tramp  could  not  help  doing  that?  Do  you  mean  he  is  not 
to  blame  —  not  to  be  punished?  Yes,  I  mean  to  say  all 
these  things  and  if  all  of  these  things  are  not  true,  this  book 
is  not  worth  the  paper  it  is  written  on."     ("  Not  Guilty.") 

Yet,  since  "  IsTot  Guilty  "  wears  the  habit  of  a  man 
and  uses  rational  words,  he  should  be  expected  to  know 
that  the  words  good,  bad  and  true  have  no  significance 
if  men  have  not  the  choice  of  being  true  or  false  to  the 
law  of  their  being  —  the  choice  of  being  good  or  bad. 

Socialism  Denies  the  Marriage  Bond 

Here  we  come  to  the  crux  of  the  whole  subject-matter 
under  observation  —  for  the  dissolution  of  civilization 
is  the  price  of  Socialism  —  of  Bolshevism.  At  length, 
after  all  these  Protestant  years  since  the  blasting  of 
the  marriage  bond  became  the  cause  of  a  state  religion 
by  human  will  established,  it  is  now  alleged  that  a  scien- 
tific sanction  has  been  formed  for  a  "  free  society." 

Just  as  one  lie  leads  to  another  in  bolstering  up  a 
bad  cause,  so  one  social  assault  upon  the  moral  constitu- 
tion of  civil  society  leads  to  another,  in  the  attempt  to 
maintain  the  corrupt  position  at  first  taken.  It  is, 
then,  clear  enough  that  those  who  would  give  license  free 
reign  over  law,  with  headlong  course  should  run  to  their 
goal  —  the  death  of  decency.  So  it  is  not  until  the 
Socialist  attack  upon  private  property  has  been  pushed 
home  to  its  source  that  it  is  seen  for  what  it  essentially 
is  —  the  point  at  which  to  stab  human  society  in  its 
vitals.  Once  the  vast  majority  of  the  units  that  go  to 
make  up  the  Commonwealth  shall  have  been  disrupted. 


FAITH  AIN^D  FATALISM  67 

it  is  certain  that  civilization  were  sick  unto  death.  Yet, 
it  is  as  certain  that  one  guard  may  be  employed  by  a 
nation  —  and  one  only  —  a  return  to  the  Ark  of  the 
Covenant.  For  God  made  these  twain  one  flesh  by  the 
bond  of  marriage  and  He  established  the  right  of  private 
property  for  the  secure  maintenance  of  the  family. 

Socialism  Asserts  Sex  Freedom 

Socialist  "  science  "  reverses  the  will  of  God  and  gives 
to  private  property  the  role  of  setting  up  the  had  practise 
of  one  man  one  wife.  In  "  The  Origin  of  the  Family  " 
—  a  classic  that  is  accepted  by  all  of  the  authoritative 
Bolshevist  writers  the  world  over  —  the  economic  origin 
of  the  family  usurps  the  place  of  the  family  of  divine 
origin.  The  book  was  written  out  by  Friedrich  Engels 
from  notes  left  by  Karl  Marx.  The  argument  runs  its 
course  to  the  proposed  emancipation  of  women.  Not, 
however,  without  the  self-same  inconsistencies  that  per- 
force accompany  their  every  phase  of  doctrine.  "  The 
modern  monogamous  family  "  came  into  existence  from 
the  fact  that  in  the  earlier  period  of  the  struggle  for 
existence  the  man  being  the  stronger  —  for  no  known 
reason  —  naturally  held  a  superior  economic  position. 
Following  up  this  advantage  over  the  woman,  she  was 
held  in  subjection  at  the  pleasure  of  the  male  until  the 
practise  gradually  became  somewhat  general.  For 
some  unknown  reason,  men  were  caused  by  their  desire 
to  favor  their  own  offspring  by  bequests  of  property 
at  death.  Thus  the  accumulation  of  wealth,  in  the  days 
of  primitive  production,  laid  the  foundation  for  our 


68  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

present  "  capitalist  society  " ;  within  which  we  are  but 
cogs  in  an  economic  wheel  that  moves  everybody  along 
with  it  in  spite  of  ourselves.  The  reason  being  that 
we  are  not  yet  sufficiently  class  conscious  to  throw  off 
the  right  of  private  property,  together  with  the  rest  of 
our  obligations  under  the  Ten  Commandments. 

However,  the  argument  proceeds  to  a  climax,  near  at 
hand.  Since  the  means  of  producing  the  necessities  of 
living  are  now  so  highly  developed  that  woman's  work 
is  very  nearly,  if  not  quite,  as  efficient  as  man's  work, 
the  conclusion  is  absolute  that  the  period  in  time  is 
now  upon  us  for  the  introduction  —  by  fate  —  of  eco- 
nomic equality  and  with  it  comes  the  emancipation  of 
woman  from  the  burdens  of  the  family,  while,  of  course, 
the  man  is  scotfree. 

Great  is  Diana!  Because  Socialism  embraces  the 
whole  philosophy  of  life,  minus  a  heavenly  home,  it 
will,  forsooth,  have  no  marriages  on  earth.  It's  all 
very  well  for  Christians  to  talk  of  the  individual  being 
the  unit  of  the  society  in  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  of 
the  family  being  the  unit  of  the  society  on  earth,  but 
since  Socialists  deny  tribute  to  Csesar  there  shall  be  no 
families  on  earth. 

The  transition  is  staged  to  take  place  upon  "  the  ir\r 
troduction  of  the  whole  female  sex  into  the  public  in- 
dustries" ('^The  Origin  of  the  Family,"  p.  89.) 
The  consequence  is  certainly  momentous :  — ''  With  the 
transformation  of  the  means  of  production  into  collective 
property  the  monogamous  family  ceases  to  he  the  eco- 
nomic unit  of  society."     No  doubt  about  it  for  this 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  69 

dogma  rests  upon  the  ipse  dixit  of  Engels  and  Marx. 
Socialists  know  just  what  will  happen  if  not  just  when. 
Are  not  Engels  and  Marx  the  men  and  is  not  Eosa  the 
woman  who  from  the  preeminence  of  the  class-conscious 
have  scaled  the  dizzy  heights  of  race-consciousness,  be- 
fore all  others  ?  To  be  sure,  Engels  and  Marx  are 
long  since  dead,  but  Rosa,  poor  Rosa,  the  mob  has  just 
taken  her  life.  So  it  shall  be  that  from  the  degrading 
economic  dependence  of  her  home  —  the  very  throne  of 
the  mother  —  women  en  masse  shall  be  sometime  free 
to  tend  a  modern  machine  instead  of  the  baby.  Eor  the 
care  and  education  of  "  legal  and  illegal "  (p.  91)  chil- 
dren become  a  public  matter. 

There  is,  indeed,  some  doubt  as  to  what  manner  of 
man  the  race  shall  become  with  the  purely  animal  in- 
stinct of  sex  love  as  the  one  and  only  condition  of  mat- 
ing and  parting.  But,  at  all  events  this  is  the  method 
by  which  the  race  shall  arrive  at  the  freedom-well  of 
the  super-men.  They  have  no  need  nor  no  longing  to 
go  home.     At  any  rate, 

"A  positive  cessation  of  fondness  or  its  replacement  by  a 
new  passionate  love  makes  a  separation  a  blessing  for  both 
parties  and  for  society.  But,  humanity  will  be  spared  the 
useless  wading  through  the  mire  of  a  divorce  (court)  case." 
("  Origin  of  the  Family,"  p.  99.) 

Really  it  is  so  simple  —  no  marriage,  no  divorce. 
We  should  be  entirely  willing  to  await  developments. 
To  quote : 

"  What  we  may  anticipate  about  the  adjustment  of  sexual 
relations  after  the  impending  downfall  of  capitalist  produc- 


TO  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

tion  is  mainly  of  a  negative  nature  and  mostly  confined  to 
elements  that  will  disappear.  But  what  will  be  added  ?  That 
will  be  decided  after  a  new  generation  has  come  to  ma- 
turity :  .  .  ."     ("  Origin  of  the  Family,"  p.  109.) 

Socialists  Advocate  Feee  Love, 

Socialist  philosophy  regarding  the  relation  of  the 
sexes  is  not  a  mere  speculation  as  to  future  conduct  and 
results.  It  has  a  practical  application  as  to  the  viola- 
tion of  the  Christian  law  of  marriage  here  and  now  and 
a  quarrel  with  the  binding  force  of  the  legal  tie.  No 
one  of  the  great  international  authorities  has  stated  the 
case  more  frankly  than  the  distinguished  Englishman, 
Ernest  Belf ort  Bax.     To  quote : 

"  A  man  may  justly  reject  the  dominant  sexual  morality : 
he  may  condemn  the  monogamic  marriage-system  which  ob- 
tains to-day;  he  may  claim  the  right  of  free  union  between 
men  and  women;  he  may  contend  he  is  perfectly  at  liberty 
to  join  himself,  either  temporarily  or  permanently,  with  a 
woman;  and  that  the  mere  legal  form  of  marriage  has  no 
binding  force  for  him."  ("  Outlooks  from  a  New  Stand- 
point," p.  114.) 

This  is  the  cold  and  cruel  craft  of  a  brilliant  mind 
gone  wrong.  Its  appeal  is  to  the  vicious  judgments  of 
men,  inducing  them  to  throw  off  their  marital  obliga- 
tions on  the  ground  of  animal  freedom.  Utterly  re- 
nouncing the  duty  of  self-purity  in  the  man;  utterly 
repudiating  the  right  of  the  wife  in  the  one  flesh  of 
these  twain;  utterly  ignoring  the  right  of  organized 
society  that  its  units  shall  be  kept  sound  in  the  interest 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  Yl 

of  public,  moral  and  physical  health.  This  is  bad 
enough !  But,  the  lurid  warmth  of  the  appeals  to 
women  for  a  generous  self-sacrifice  is  much  more  telling 
in  the  corruption  of  the  family.  The  New  York  Call 
(Oct.  20,  1918)  in  its  home  section,  "  Woman's  Page," 
urges  women  themselves  to  throw  off  religious  restraints 
and  conventions  in  the  interest  of  economic,  political 
and  social  freedom.  The  matter  is  taken  from  Edward 
Carpenter's  "  Love's  Coming  of  Age  "  (Chicago,  1903). 
Here  is  the  call  to  universal  death  and  dauMiation.  God 
forbid  a  response  thereto ! 

"  There  is  no  solution,  except  in  the  freedom  of  woman  — 
which  means,  of  course,  also  the  freedom  of  the  masses  of 
the  people,  men  and  women,  and  the  ceasing  altogether  of 
economic  slavery.  There  is  no  solution  which  will  not  in- 
clude the  redemption  of  the  terms  '  free  woman '  and  '  free 
love'  to  their  true  and  rightful  significance.  Let  every 
woman  whose  heart  bleeds  for  the  sufferings  of  her  sex 
hasten  to  declare  herself,  and  to  constitute  herself,  as  far 
as  she  possibly  can,  a  free  woman.  Let  her  accept  the  term 
with  all  the  odiiun  that  belongs  to  it;  let  her  insist  on 
her  right  to  speak,  dress,  think,  act,  and,  above  all,  to  use 
her  sex  as  she  deems  best ;  let  her  face  the  scorn  and  ridicule ; 
let  her  '  lose  her  own  life,'  if  she  like ;  assured  that  only 
so  can  come  deliverance,  and  that  only  when  the  free  woman 
is  honored  will  the  prostitute  cease  to  exist." 

Socialism  Promotes  Easy  Divokce 

In  their  dramas,  novels,  short  stories  and  in  their 
so-called  scientific  works,  from  their  professorial  chairs, 
from  their  lecture  halls  and  on  the  street  comers  Social- 
ists have  outrun  every  other  evil  force  in  the  world  that 


72  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

makes  for  easy  divorce.  But,  when  their  speaking  is 
oflBcial,  in  the  ward-room,  the  Legislature,  the  halls  of 
Congress,  their  vote  follows  their  talk  in  favor  of  any 
and  every  measure  that  would  lessen  the  integrity  of 
the  state.  Where,  for  the  nonce,  the  Socialist  majority 
—  the  Bolsheviki  —  are  in  political  control,  the  license 
to  deny  marital  obligation,  at  will,  is  enacted  into  the 
statutes.  Let  us  set  forth  the  proof  in  their  own  words 
of  class-conscious  confidence : 

"  The  dissolution  of  the  marriage  relation  will  become 
as  purely  a  personal  and  private  affair  as  is  the  assumption 
of  the  relation  now."  ("Puritanism,"  Clarence  Meily,  p. 
133.) 

Philip  Eappaport  is  presumed  to  be  an  expert  upon 
this  phase  of  Socialism.  In  "  Looking  Forward  " —  a 
very  popular  setting  forth  of  the  doctrine  so  ponderously 
promulgated  in  "  The  Origin  of  the  Family  "  —  the 
soap-boxers  find  their  arguments  in  language  that  they 
can  convey  to  the  audience  that  run  together  on  the  street 
corners : 

"Moral  or  religious  scruples  against  divorce  generally 
should  not  prevail.  These  are  matters  of  conscience  entirely 
foreign  to  the  nature  of  a  valid  civil  contract,  and  entirely 
within  the  province  of  individual  judgment."  ("  Looking 
Forward,"  p.  119.) 

Here  may  be  seen  the  principle  of  private  judgment 
no  longer  in  its  green  but  in  its  rotten  ripe  fruit.  To 
continue : 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  73 

"Divorce,  although  always  an  individual  problem,  would 
not  be  a  social  problem  at  all,  if  it  were  not  made  one  by 
superstition,  bigotry  and  intolerance."  ("  Looking  For- 
ward," p.  133.) 

Reason  here  is  truly  fled  to  brutish  beasts,  as  one 
cannot  touch  the  subject  of  divorce  save  the  rights  of 
parents  are  brought  into  personal  conflict  relative  to  the 
mutual  privileges  and  obligations  one  has  vested  in  the 
other.  It  was  no  mere  sentimental  boast,  but  rather  a 
profound  understanding  of  the  human  constitution,  that 
Shakespeare  puts  into  the  mouth  of  Portia : 

"With  leave,  Bassanio;  I  am  half  yourself. 
And  I  must  freely  have  the  half  of  anything 
That  this  same  paper  brings  you." 

Then,  too,  divorce  is  a  family,  rather  than  an  indi- 
vidual, question,  relative  to  the  natural  right  of  the 
children  to  the  care  and  command  of  their  parents, 
before  they  attain  to  the  use  of  free-will.  Moreover, 
divorce  is  a  social  question,  since  a  conflict  necessarily 
ensues  between  the  authority  of  parents  and  the  author- 
ity of  organized  society.  Parental  authority  over  their 
children,  being  conditioned  upon  life  itself,  is  prior  to 
the  authority  of  the  commonwealth  over  its  citizens. 
Consequently  parents  have  no  natural  right  to  abrogate 
their  authority  in  favor  of  the  state  nor  has  the  state 
the  social  right  to  usurp  the  authority  to  care  for  and 
command  these  children.  Obviously,  again,  the  state 
has  not  the  moral  right  to  give  over  the  children  to  the 
one  or  the  other  of  their  parents,  since  the  children  have 


74'  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  right  to  the  joint  care  of  both  their  parents.  The 
conclusion  is  rational  —  divorce  acts  against  the  natural 
rights  of  the  individual,  the  family  and  organized  so- 
ciety by  breaking  up  the  stability  of  the  marriage  bond. 
Yet,  after  all,  it  is  not  so  much  right  argument  that 
is  needed  to  overcome  Socialist  propaganda  when  it 
takes  on  the  sentimental  phase  as  it  is  that  sense  of 
purity  that  abhors  what  is  evil.  Chastity  is  not  so  much 
in  reason  as  in  emotion.  Not  so  much  in  right- 
thought  about  God  as  in  right-relation  with  God. 
However,  it  seems  necessary  to  permit  Socialists  to 
bespeak  their  own  subversive  doctrine  relative  to  family 
purity. 

"  If  the  marriage-tie  could  be  easily  dissolved,  there  would 
be  an  unceasing  endeavor  to  keep  alive  the  holy  flame  of 
love  once  existing,  and  the  blissful  state  of  wooing  would 
never  come  to  an  end.  I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion  that  the 
best  means  to  accomplish  a  reduction  in  the  number  of 
divorces  is  to  make  divorce  very  easy."  ("  Looking  For- 
ward," p.  12.) 

"  In  their  chapter  *  Socialism  Triumphant '  William  Morris 
and  Ernest  Belfort  Bax  (joint  authors  'Socialism:  Its 
Growth  and  Outcome,'  Chicago,  1909,  p.  226)  resume  that 
under  Socialism  '  a  new  development  of  the  family  would  take 
place,  on  the  basis,  not  of  a  predetermined  life-long  business 
arrangement,  to  be  formally  and  nominally  held  to  irrespec- 
tive of  circumstances,  but  on  mutual  inclination  and  affec- 
tion, an  association  terminable  at  the  will  of  either  party.' " 

Speaking  of  the  "  liberal "  divorce  laws,  for  which 
the    Socialists    fought    unitedly    in    the    Chamber    of 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  75 

Deputies,   Jean   Jaures    {"  New    York   Independent " 
August  20,  1908)  is  quoted,  saying: 

"  They  were  free  to  make  the  marriage  and  should  in 
the  same  way  be  free  to  unmake  it.  In  fact,  just  as  the 
will  of  one  of  the  parties  could  have  prevented  the  marriage, 
so  the  will  of  one  should  be  able  to  end  it.  The  power  to 
annul  should,  of  course,  be  all  the  stronger  when'  both 
parties  desire  it." 

After  some  forty-odd  years  of  restless  propaganda 
theory  has  passed  into  fact.  In  Russia  the  Bolsheviki, 
as  the  Socialists  are  popularly  called,  have,  alas,  come 
into  their  own.  The  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet 
Republic  has  enacted  legislation  for  that  most  distracted 
country.  The  Decree  of  Divorce  issued  by  the  Council 
of  Peoples  Commissaires,  Section  N'o.  1,  reads  "  Di- 
vorce shall  he  granted  upon  application  made  by  either 
or  both  parties/' 

From  the  foregoing  citations  it  should  be  certain  that 
Socialism  prosecutes  its  scheme  witli  determination 
against  the  very  heartbeat  of  civil  society.  Nor  should 
this  be  a  wonder  —  that  rebellion  against  the  whole 
order  of  creation  should  run  to  the  extreme  limit  of 
its  evil  power  in  the  destruction  and  corruption  of 
human  society.  One  more  quotation  from  this  enemy 
of  God  and  men  shall  suffice  to  set  forth  their  standards 
and  their  purpose  that  finds  its  only  sanction  in  the 
shifty  sands  of  blind  force. 

"  Socialist  philosophy  proves  conclusively  that  the  realiza- 
tion of  the  positive  political  and  economic  ideals  of  socialism 


16  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

involves  the  atrophy  of  Religion,  the  metamorphosis  of  the 
Family  and  the  Suicide  of  the  State."  ("  Socialism  Positive 
and  Negative,"  p.  89.) 

Since  it  is  before  the  bar  of  God's  justice  that  all 
human  schemes,  good  and  bad,  receive  their  acid  test  — 
it  is  to  the  Pope  that  we  shall  go  for  those  standards 
relative  to  the  family  from  which  mankind  may  not 
depart  with  impunity. 

"  Truly  it  is  hardly  possible  to  describe  how  great  are  the 
evils  that  flow  from  divorce.  Matrimonial  contracts  are 
by  it  made  variable ;  mutual  kindness  is  weakened ;  deplorable 
inducements  to  unfaithfulness  are  supplied;  harm  is  done 
to  the  education  and  training  of  children;  occasion  is  af- 
forded for  the  breaking  up  of  homes;  the  seeds  of  dis- 
sension are  sown  among  families;  the  dignity  of  womanhood 
is  lessened  and  brought  low,  and  women  run  the  risk  of  being 
deserted  after  having  ministered  to  the  pleasures  of  man. 
Since,  then,  nothing  has  such  power  to  lay  waste  families 
and  destroy  the  mainstay  of  kingdoms  as  the  corruption  of 
morals,  it  is  easily  seen  that  divorces  are  in  the  highest 
degree  hostile  to  the  prosperity  of  families  and  States, 
springing  as  they  do  from  the  depraved  morals  of  the  people, 
and,  as  experience  shows  us,  opening  out  a  way  to  every 
kind  of  evil  doing  in  public  alike  and  in  private  life. 

"  The  constant  and  watchful  care  of  the  Church  in  guard- 
ing marriage,  by  the  preservation  of  its  sanctity,  is  so  well 
understood  as  not  to  need  proof.  That  the  judgment  of 
the  Council  of  Jerusalem  reprobated  licentious  and  free 
love  (Acts  XV,  29),  we  all  know;  as  also  that  the  incestuous 
Corinthian  was  condemned  by  the  authority  of  blessed  Paul 
(I  Cor.  V,  5).  Again,  in  the  very  beginning  of  the  Christian 
Church  were  repulsed  and  defeated,  with  the  like  unremit- 
ting determination,  the  efforts  of  many  who  aimed  at  the 


FAITH  AND  FATALISM  77 

destruction  of  Christian  marriage,  such  as  the  Gnostics, 
Manicheans,  and  Montanists ;  and  in  our  own  time.  Mormons, 
St.  Simonians,  Phalansterians,  and  Communists. 

"In  like  manner,  moreover,  a  law  of  marriage  just  to  all, 
and  the  same  for  all,  was  enacted  by  the  abolition  of  the 
old  distinction  between  slaves  and  free-born  men  and  women ; 
and  thus  the  rights  between  husbands  and  wives  were  made 
equal;  for,  as  St.  Jerome  says,  'with  us  that  which  is  un- 
lawful for  women  is  unlawful  for  men  also,  and  the  same 
restraint  is  imposed  on  equal  conditions.'  The  self-same 
rights  also  were  firmly  established  for  reciprocal  affection 
and  for  the  interchange  of  duties ;  the  dignity  of  the  woman 
was  asserted  and  assured;  and  it  was  forbidden  to  the  man 
to  inflict  capital  punishment  for  adultery,  or  lustfully  and 
shamelessly  to  violate  his  plighted  faith. 

"  It  is  also  a  great  blessing  that  the  Church  has  limited, 
as  far  as  is  needful  the  power  of  fathers  of  families,  so  that 
sons  and  daughters  wishing  to  marry  are  not  in  any  way 
deprived  of  their  rightful  freedom;  that,  for  the  purpose  of 
spreading  more  widely  the  supernatural  love  of  husbands  and 
wives,  she  has  decreed  marriages  within  certain  degrees  of 
consanguinity  or  aflBnity  to  be  null  and  void;  that  she  has 
taken  the  greatest  pains  to  safeguard  marriage,  as  much  as 
possible,  from  error  and  violence  and  deceit;  that  she  has 
always  wished  to  preserve  the  holy  chasteness  of  the  mar- 
riage bed,  personal  rights,  the  honor  of  husband  and  wife, 
and  the  security  of  religion. 

"Lastly,  with  such  power  and  with  such  foresight  of 
legislation  has  the  Church  guarded  this  divine  institution, 
that  no  one  who  thinks  rightly  of  these  matters  can  fail 
to  see  how,  with  regard  to  marriage,  she  is  the  best  guardian 
and  defender  of  the  human  race ;  and  how  withal  her  wisdom 
has  come  forth  victorious  from  the  lapse  of  years,  from  the 
assaults  of  men,  and  from  the  countless  changes  of  public 
events."     ("Christian  Marriage,"  Pope  Leo  XIIL) 


Ill 

PATRIOTISM 

PATRIOTISM?  That  all-embracing  motive  that 
unites  the  natural  virtues  in  a  supreme  love  for 
the  body-politic  as  a  moral  entity:  That  civic  passion 
from  v^hich  proceeds  devoted  service  to  one's  country 
in  times  of  peace :  That  self-sacrifice  that  prompts  one 
to  give  his  all  for  his  home-land  in  times  of  war.  So 
it  is  that  within  the  scope  of  Pagan  glory,  patriotism 
stands  full  orbed.  Heroic  deeds  done  for  love  of  coun- 
try ever  count  first  above  all  earthly  gifts  of  wealth, 
honor,  power  or  fame.  Men  born  of  such  mothers  as 
Volumnia  hold  above  all  earthly  treasure  —  above  all 
earthly  joy  —  the  gift  of  one's  blood  for  one's  country. 

Volumnia  — "  I  tell  thee,  daughter,  I  spring  not  more  in 
joy  at  first  hearing  he  was  a  man-child  than  now  in  first  see- 
ing he  had  proved  himself  a  man," 

Virgilia  — "  But  had  he  died  in  the  business,  madam ;  how 
then?" 

'Volumnia  — "  Then  his  good  report  should  have  been  my 
son;  I  therein  would  have  found  issue.  Hear  me  profess 
sincerely:  had  I  a  dozen  sons,  each  in  my  love  alike  and 
none  less  dear  than  thine  and  my  good  Marcius,  I  had  rather 
had  eleven  die  nobly  for  their  country  than  one  voluptuously 
surfeit  out  of  action." 

Virgilia  — "  His  bloody  brow !     O  Jupiter,  no  blood !  " 

Volumnia  — ^  Away,  you  fool !    It  more  becomes  a  man 

78 


PATRIOTISM  79 

than  gilt  his  trophy;  the  breasts  of  Hecuba,  when  she  did 
suckle  Hector,  looked  not  lovelier  than  Hector's  forehead 
when  it  spit  forth  blood  at  Grecian  sword,  contemning." 

But  when  to  the  natural  virtue  of  patriotism  Religion 
lends  her  vision,  men  arise  and  sign  a  pledge  with 
David : 

"  If  I  forget  thee,  O  Jerusalem,  let  my  right  hand  be  for- 
gotten. Let  my  tongue  cleave  to  my  jaws  if  I  do  not  remem- 
ber thee:  If  I  make  not  Jerusalem  the  beginning  of  my 
joy.     (Psahn  136.) 

Even  in  the  exalted  mood  of  patriotism,  David 
tempers  his  pledge  —  Jerusalem  shall  be  the  beginning 
of  his  joy  since  God  is  the  end,  the  completion  of  all 
joy.  Thus  it  is  a  very  practical  matter  of  e very-day 
duty  to  inculcate  the  virtue  of  patriotism  and  to  practise 
it,  since  God  is  the  Maker  of  Man  and  the  Author  of 
JN'ations. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  ever  held  her  children  in 
duty  bound  to  cherish  and  to  love  the  country  in  which 
they  live  and  receive  such  enjoyments  as  this  mortal 
life  affords.  Pope  Leo  XIII  —  "  On  the  Chief  Duties 
of  Christians  as  Citizens "  —  places  patriotism  as  a 
strict  obligation,  natural  and  supernatural.  Thus  at 
once  is  separated  and  united  the  domain  of  Csesar,  to 
whom  we  must  pay  tribute,  with  our  duty  towards  God : 

"  The  natural  law  enjoins  us  to  love  devotedly  and  to 
defend  the  country  in  which  we  had  birth,  and  in  which 
we  were  brought  up,  so  that  every  good  citizen  hesitates 


80  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

not  to  face  death  for  his  native  land."     (Encyclical  Letter, 
Jan.  10,  1890.) 

Accepting,  then,  the  principle  that  patriotism  of  the 
highest  flame  is  motived  by  religion,  we  may  logically 
expect  as  we  run  down  to  lesser  faith  to  find  lesser 
patriotism  in  those  "  after-Christians "  who  have  re- 
placed Catholicism  with  a  sort  of  natural  religion.  But 
when  we  shall  have  come  down  to  the  perversity  of  a 
materialistic  philosophy,  there,  indeed,  patriotism  is  al- 
together excluded,  for  it  has  no  support  in  natural  law 
or  in  supernatural  sanction.  Yet,  withal,  God  is  not 
mocked  —  for  men  are  men. 

Love  of  country  finds  no  place  in  the  philosophy  of 
Socialist  doctrinaires.  Patriotism  is  a  sentiment  culti- 
vated by  the  bourgeoisie  in  their  own  interest  and  so  of 
no  binding  force.  Adherents  to  modem  class-struggle 
are  guided  by  "  The  Socialist  Declaration  of  Indepen- 
dence "  —  The  Communist  Manifesto  —  given  to  the 
world  by  Karl  Marx  and  Erederich  Engels  in  1848. 
This.  Manifesto  by  a  method  of  negation  prompts  its 
advocates  to  unpatriotic  thought  and  action.  To  quote : 
"  The  worJcing  men  have  no  country.  We  cannot  take 
from  them  what  they  have  not  got "  is  its  argument  in 
answer  to  the  proposition  that  "  The  Communists  are 
further  reproached  with  desiring  to  abolish  countries 
and  nationalities."  The  document  proceeds  to  make  it 
certain  that  it  is  the  world  supremacy  of  the  proletariat 
that  is  the  aim,  to  which  the  Manifesto  is  the  guide. 
This  view  holds  sway  the  world  over  with  the  followers 


PATRIOTISM  81 

of  the  red  flag.  "  Aside  from  its  historic  and  political 
significance,  the  Communist  Manifesto  will  remain  a 
conspicuous  monument  in  the  literature  of  the  world; 
as  long  as  thoughts  possess  a  sense  and  words  have  a 
sound"  (Editor  ''  Die  Gleichhert,"  the  Radical  Re- 
view, N.  Y.,  July,  1917). 

However  democratic  the  form  of  government,  their 
revolutionary  aim  is  ever  in  view  —  The  World  for  the 
Workers.  Socialists  in  our  own  country  are  no  excep- 
tion. The  Communist  Manifesto  dominates  the  party 
policy  of  the  Socialist  and  the  Socialist  Labor  parties 
of  the  United  States.  Eugene  V.  Debs,  four  times 
presidential  candidate  of  the  Socialist  Party,  during  an 
address  in  Tremont  Temple,  Boston  (Oct.  26,  1915) 
scorned  the  very  idea  of  patriotism  in  the  working  class ! 

"  Talk  about  men  of  Europe  fighting  for  patriotism  and 
love  of  their  country?  The  workingman  in  any  part  of  the 
world  never  had  a  country  to  fight  for." 

The  Socialist  Labor  Party,  never  in  the  rear  as  to 
revolutionary  pronouncements,  makes  its  voice  heard 
through  Arthur  E.  Eeimer  — Candidate  for  President 
—  in  a  "  Working-Class  Message  on  Preparedness " 
(The  Weekly  People,  N.  Y.,  Dec.  25,  1915). 

"  At  the  risk  of  being  called  traitors  the  Socialist  Labor 
Party  does  not  consider  any  country  under  capitalist  rule 
worthy  of  defense.  We  say,  and  we  say  without  fear  of 
contradiction  and  in  the  face  of  the  opposition  that  naturally 
will  confront  the  Socialist  Labor  Party,  that  there  is  no 
country,  including  the  United  States,  a  capitalist  country, 
that  is  worthy  of  the  working  class  spilling  its  blood  for  it." 


83  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Only  a  few  days  later  than  this  Christmas  Day 
repudiation  of  loyalty  to  their  country  the  National 
Executive  Committee  of  the  Socialist  Labor  Party  (Jan. 
2,  1916)  passed  a  resolution  endorsing  the  sentiments 
of  its  presidential  nominee.     It  was  officially  declared: 

"  The  working  class  should  not  consider  any  country  under 
capitalist  rule  worthy  of  defense  no  matter  what  the  cir- 
cumstance may  be." 

This  were  quite  enough  to  prove  that  the  Marxian 
dogma  —  "  Workingmen  have  no  country  "  —  is  relied 
upon  by  both  Socialist  parties  as  the  solid  ground  for 
treasonable  utterance.  Yet,  we  shall,  from  a  mass  of 
evidence  select  additional  matter  taken  from  a  critique 
of  John  Spargo  relative  to  the  St.  Louis  Emergency 
Convention  by  the  Socialist  party  leaders.  This  con- 
vention sent  out  its  report  against  the  participation  of 
our  country  in  the  European  war  and  "  mass  action  " 
was  threatened  against  our  government.  Mr.  Spargo 
was  a  member  of  "  The  Committee  on  War  and  Mili- 
tarism." Objecting  to  the  "  Majority  Report "  Mr. 
Spargo  says  of  his  former  comrades: 

"  At  least  six  members  expressed  themselves  as  being  ut- 
terly opposed  to  any  action  by  the  workers  in  defense  of  the 
nation :  '  The  workers  have  no  country ;  it  is  a  capitalist's 
country,  whether  they  are  governed  by  Czar  Nicholas  or 
Woodrow  Wilson,  or  whether  the  government  is  republican 
or  monarchial,  is  a  matter  of  complete  indifference  to  the 
class-conscious  workers,'  '  Suppose  we  were  invaded  by  Ger- 
many or  by  Mexico,  why  should  we  care?  Instead  of  fight- 
ing them  we  should  welcome  the  invaders  as  our  brothers '  — 


PATRIOTISM  83 

these  statements  which  I  wrote  down  at  the  time  fairly 
indicate  the  point  of  view  of  the  most  influential  element 
in  the  Committee.  Later,  the  spokesman  of  the  group  fought 
for  hours  against  the  use  of  such  phrases  as  *  our  government ' 
consistently  adhering  to  their  theory  that  the  working-class 
can  have  no  country  and  no  government.  They  opposed 
the  inclusion  in  the  program  of  action  specific  collectivist 
measures,  on  the  ground  that  such  measures  would,  if 
adopted,  '  help  the  capitalists  to  win  the  war.'  They  op- 
posed the  inclusion  of  a  proposal  to  work  for  the  humani- 
tarian treatment  of  prisoners  and  the  observance  of  lawful 
and  humane  methods  of  war,  on  the  ground  that  such  action 
would  '  make  war  more  tolerable.' "  ("  Americanism  and 
Social  Democracy,"  N.  Y.,  1918,  pp.  280-281.) 

Surely,  these  then  comrades  of  Mr.  Spargo  gave  strict 
adhesion  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Communist  Manifesto. 
What  was  Socialism  in  times  of  peace  should,  to  them, 
be  Socialism  in  times  of  war.  But  to  Mr.  Spargo  this 
was  a  time  "  when  a  fella  needs  a  friend."  So  being 
anxious  to  take  Marx  with  him  out  of  the  Socialist 
Party  since  his  own  war  sentiments  were  almost  unani- 
mously outvoted,  Mr.  Spargo  ascribes  to  Marx's  youth- 
ful enthusiasm  his  1847  declaration  that  "  workingmen 
have  no  country."  He  argues  that  later  in  life  Marx 
"  advocated  policies  which  implied  the  abandonment  of 
his  youthful  generalizations."  Assuming  this  to  be 
a  correct  view  —  for  which  we  see  no  substantial  evi- 
dence whatsoever  —  the  fact  remains  that,  save  here 
and  there,  a  man  has  seceded  from  this  time-worn 
treason,  the  party  followers  of  Marx,  especially  in  our 
own  country,  have  abandoned  not  one  iota  of  their  anti- 
patriotic  attitude  towards  integral  nations.     Capitalism 


84  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

is  world-wide,  ergo  Socialism  shall  be  world-wide! 
This  issue  has  ever  served  as  the  touchstone  that  dis- 
tinguishes reform  from  revolution, —  the  Socialist  from 
the  reformer. 

However,  far  be  it  from  our  purpose  to  insist  upon 
the  consistency  of  Socialists  towards  their  doctrines. 
This  were  utterly  impossible  since  their  principles  are 
void  of  a  rational  foundation,  while  men  are  perforce 
rational  beings.  Operating  from  a  false  premise  as  to 
human  nature  their  acts  are,  at  times,  necessarily  at 
variance  with  their  doctrine.  Their  philosophy  denies 
free-will  but  since  Socialists  are  gifted  by  God  with 
a  rational  nature,  they  are  sure  to  operate  upon  the 
assumption  that  free-will  is  an  attribute  of  human 
nature.  They  affect  to  reject  reform  altogether,  but 
their  "  present  demands "  are  largely  made  up  of 
measures  taken  from  reform  platforms.  Again,  Social- 
ists raise  up  their  voices  in  favor  of  self-determination 
of  India,  not  because  they  would  admit  that  Indian 
workmen  have  a  country,  but  as  a  means  of  propaganda 
against  England  —  a  capitalist  government. 

Whether  or  not  Marx  penned  his  shibboleth  against 
patriotism  in  the  unreasoning  exuberance  of  youth,  the 
Socialist  party  still  adheres  to  its  treasonable  intention : 

"  As  an  American  Socialist  party,  we  pledge  our  fidelity  to 
the  principles  of  international  Socialism,  as  embodied  in 
the  thought  and  action  of  the  Socialists  of  all  nations.  The 
chief  significance  of  all  national  boundaries,  and  of  so-called 
patriotisms  which  the  ruling  class  of  each  nation  is  seeking 
to  revive,  is  the  power  which  these  give  to  capitalism  to 


PATRIOTISM  85 

keep  the  workers  of  the  world  from  uniting  and  to  throw 
them  against  each  other  in  the  struggles  of  contending 
capitalist  interests  for  the  control  of  the  yet  unexploited 
markets  of  the  world,  or  the  remaining  sources  of  profit." 
(Chicago  Platform.) 

This  international  pledge  —  to  carry  into  practise  the 
dogma  that  workmen  have  no  country  —  was  kept  by 
many  who  held  elective  office  in  national  assemblies. 
Karl  Liebknecht's  "  lone  vote  "  was  accounted  an  heroic 
act,  since  in  obedience  to  the  mandate  of  the  Inter- 
national Socialist  Congresses  he  had  voted  against  the 
war  credits.  Eugene  V.  Debs  sings  his  praise  edi- 
torally : 

"  When  Earl  Liebhnecht  stood  up  in  the  German  reichstag, 
solitary  and  alone,  even  among  his  own  Socialist  colleagues, 
and  voted  against  the  war  credit  of  five  hillion  marks  to  pro- 
long the  international  butchery  which  has  been  going  on 
these  past  several  months,  he  proved  himself  a  true  repre- 
sentative of  the  Socialist  movement  and  a  genuine  revolu- 
tionary hero  worthy  of  the  commendation  of  Socialists 
throughout  the  world."     ("  Kip  Saw,"  St.  Louis,  Feb.,  1915.) 

This  same  dogma  was  strictly  obeyed  by  Ramsey 
MacDonald  when  he  "  opposed  in  Parliament  the  in- 
flation of  British  armaments,  as  all  members  are  pledged 
to  do  in  their  respective  countries."  (London  Socialist 
Review.)  So,  too,  was  this  dogma  enacted  by  more  than 
one  thousand  members  of  the  Independent  Labor  Party 
in  England,  who  in  consequence  were  put  behind  the 
bars  during  the  war.  It  was  this  underlying  assump- 
tion that  all  government  must  be  broken  down  in  favor 


86  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

of  working  class  rule  that  caused  the  revolt  of  Lenine 
and  Trotsky  against  a  legitimate  Constituent  Assembly 
in  Russia:  That  urged  on  the  Socialist  conspiracy  to 
break  down  the  morale  of  the  Italian  Army  that  brought 
about  the  disaster  at  Caporetto:  That,  no  doubt, 
tempted  Erederich  Adler  to  murder  the  Prime  Minister 
of  Austria.  It  was  this  degraded  view  —  that  "  work- 
ing men  have  no  country  "  bred  in  the  bone  of  Jean 
Longuet  —  a  grandson  of  Karl  Marx  —  which  led  him 
to  oppose  self-defense  of  France.  In  our  own  Congress, 
Meyer  London,  has  the  unenviable  record  of  refusing 
to  vote  for  army  and  navy  appropriations  after  our 
country  entered  the  world  war  in  the  interest  of  demo- 
cratic government. 

Reasoning  rightly  the  internationalism  proposed  by 
Socialists  is  not  what  the  true  sense  of  the  word  con- 
notes. The  term  assumes  a  relationship  between  two 
or  more  integral  bodies  of  men.  That  is  to  say  the 
moral  integrity  of  nations  is  recognized  by  the  fact  of 
the  relationship  that  binds  them  together  either  in  law 
or  in  action  whereas  the  view  of  a  world  society  held 
by  Socialists  blots  out  individual  nations.  It  were  more 
to  the  point  to  insist  that  Socialism  is  anti-national 
rather  than  inter-national.  Indeed,  it  may  be  seen  that 
in  doctrine  and  in  practise  Socialism  is  national  only 
in  the  sense  that  it  makes  use  of  governments  to  break 
down  nations ;  for  it  is  within  national  limits  that  eco- 
nomic classes  are  permitted  to  exist  and  defended  by 
public  opinion,  law  and  force.  Their  inflated  and  dis- 
tended vision  takes  in  a  one-class  administration  of  this 


PATRIOTISM  87 

world's  economic  goods;  and  the  means  to  this  dizzy 
objective  is  a  proletarian  dictatorship  in  country  after 
country  until  a  classless  society  of  economic  equality 
may  take  on  world  proportions.  To  quote  the  Comr 
munist  Manifesto  on  this  point: 

"  The  workingmen  have  no  country.  We  cannot  take  from 
them  what  they  have  not  got.  Since  the  proletariat  must 
first  of  all  acquire  political  supremacy,  must  rise  to  he  the 
leading  class  in  the  nation,  must  constitute  itself  the  nation, 
it  is,  so  far,  national,  though  not  in  the  bourgeois  sense  of 
the  word." 

Brought  down  to  the  concrete  it  is  clear  that  Socialism 
is  national  only  so  far  as  it  makes  use  of  the  instruments 
of  a  given  country  —  its  press,  platform,  election  ma- 
chinery, its  popular  opinion,  etc.,  to  gain  "  political 
supremacy "  that  it  may  further  a  world-wide  revo- 
lution. 

"  Shall  we  place  the  integrity  and  safety  of  this  fatherland 
created  by  the  bourgeoisie  over  the  interests  of  the  inter- 
national Socialist  revolution  ? " 

is  the  question  scornfully  asked  by  Nikolai  Lenin,  Prime 
Minister  of  Russia,  in  his  Moscow  Communication  of 
Aug.  20,  1918,  in  his  defense  for  the  signing  of  the 
Brest-Litovsk  treaty.  His  action  is  his  answer  —  No. 
In  the  nature  of  things,  Socialists  are  obliged  to  carry 
on  their  propaganda  within  the  confines  of  existing 
States.  But  evidence  is  manifold  that  it  seeks  to  make 
the  state  "  die  out."     This  being  so  a  necessary  con- 


88  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

elusion  is  that  Socialist  parties  are  not  political  parties 
in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word.  Their  object  is  not 
to  carry  on  the  affairs  of  the  nation  —  not  to  reform  the 
methods  of  government  for  the  good  of  the  Common- 
wealth; their  object  is  frankly  treasonable  —  the  over- 
throw of  civil  society,  which  they  dub  the  "  Capitalist 
State." 

The  St.  Louis  Emergency  Convention  of  the  Socialist 
Party  (April,  1917)  declared: 

"The  Social  revolution  not  political  office  is  the  end  and 
aim  of  the  Socialist  Party.  No  compromise,  no  political 
trading." 

The  World  War  put  the  human  nature  of  the  Socialist 
to  the  touchstone,  the  virtue  of  patriotism  being  the  issue. 
Then  it  was  that  the  natural  love  of  country  flared  up 
in  the  breasts  of  Socialists  who  had  forgotten  their  God 
and  had  for  years  dabbled  in  treason.  Many  men  who 
used  to  be  Revolutionary  Socialists  lined  up  with  the 
governments  of  their  country ;  voted  the  war  credits  and 
accepted  executive  positions  of  great  responsibility,  quite 
contrary  to  the  mandates  of  the  International  Socialist 
Congress  that  they  had  sworn  to  defend.  So  it  is  that 
by  the  scourge  of  war  God  brings  men  back  to  a  sense 
of  their  duty  to  Csesar  as  Christ  our  Lord  whipped  those 
who  traded  in  the  Temple  into  a  sense  of  their  duty 
towards  Jehovah  —  their  Eather  in  Heaven. 

For  instance  Emile  Vandervelde,  Chairman  of  the 
Socialist  Bureau,  having  in  charge  the  affairs  of  the 
second  red  international,  came  to  our  country  as  an 


PATRIOTISM  89 

especial  envoy  of  the  King  of  Belgium.  During  his 
mission  in  America,  Vandervelde  kept  deliberately  away 
from  association  with  his  fellow  Socialists  here,  much 
to  their  chagrin.  Yet,  during  this  time,  over  in  Bel- 
gium his  comrades  were  singing  L'International : 

The    International    Party 
Shall  he  the  human  race! 

Notwithstanding,  they  were  firing  bullets  into  their 
German  comrades. 

In  France,  Jules  Guesde  and  Marcel  Sembat  accepted 
portfolios  in  the  Cabinet  of  Briand  and  Millerand: 
both  of  whom  had  previously  been  driven  out  of  the 
Socialist  party  because  they  had  accepted  positions  in 
"  a  bourgeois  government," 

Scheidemann  and  his  fellow  Deputies,  with  one  ex- 
ception, turned  their  backs  upon  their  time-tried  propa- 
ganda shibboleth  —  Not  a  man  and  not  a  dollar  for 
military  purposes  —  and  lined  up  with  the  Kaiser  — 
voting  the  war  budgets.  The  exception  was  Liebknecht. 
Later  he  headed  the  Spartacus  group  —  those  who  were 
Internationalists  first  and  Germans  afterwards.  Mr. 
Scheidemann  defended  himself  and  his  followers  in  a 
letter  to  the  New  Yorher  VolTcszeitung  (Socialist 
daily,  Sept.  10,  1914)  ;  '^  We  Social  Democrats  have 
not  ceased  to  he  Germans  because  we  joined  the  Socialist 
International/' 

But  the  sacrifice  of  nationality  is  precisely  the  price 
that  Socialist  principles  exact  from  every  comrade  — 
that  he  shall  leave  his  homeland  and  make  the  world 


90  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

his  country.  Hence  the  retort  is  apt:  You  ceased  to 
be  Germans  when  you  joined  the  International  —  you 
ceased  to  be  International  when  you  responded  to  the 
call  of  the  German  fatherland.  When  you  depart  from! 
the  teaching  of  Marx  you  cease  to  be  Socialists.  So,  in 
fact,  it  was  that  the  great  Social  Democratic  Party  of 
Germany  renounced  the  Revolution  for  Reform. 
Surely  the  mills  of  God  grind  slowly  —  but  at  length 
the  grist  comes  out  in  favor  of  the  nature  of  man  — 
in  favor  of  common  sense.  When  a  man  with  malice 
aforethought  chooses  the  world  for  his  country,  he  be- 
comes an  outlaw, —  a  man  without  a  country,  a  traitor 
to  his  government, —  a  man  deliberately  outside  the 
moral  constitution  of  human  society, —  a  recreant  to 
his  race,  for  the  race  is  made  up  of  nations.  This  is 
simple  common  sense,  for  God  gave  man  his  nature 
and  the  nations  of  the  earth  are  by  Him  established. 
Because  of  the  protection  of  the  State  the  rights  of  men 
are  maintained  and  their  duties  done. 

JN^o,  those  Socialists  who  rediscovered  their  patriotism, 
in  whatsoever  country,  were  not  let  off  easily  by  their 
sometime  comrades  in  the  International.  It  was  the 
same  in  the  countries  of  the  Allies  and  in  America  as 
it  was  within  the  central  empires,  wrath  was  freely 
expressed.  The  American  Socialist^  official  organ  of 
Socialist  Party  (Chicago,  Dec.  12,  1914)  vents  forth 
its  bitter  woe  through  the  pen  of  Oscar  Ameringer  — 
lecturer  and  pamphleteer: 

"  A  tidal  wave  of  patriotism  swept  the  countries,  and  tore 
the   best   and   clearest  heads   into   the   mad   rush.     German 


PATRIOTISM  91 

Socialists  shouted  *Hoch  der  Kaiser.'  Herve,  the  unter- 
rified  foe  of  war  yelled  *  Vive  le  Czar  * ;  Sambat  and  Guesde 
joined  the  French  cabinet  with  Millerand  the  Renegade. 
Vandervelde  becomes  royal  minister  and  peddles  atrocity 
tales  in  England  and  America  without  finding  time  to  call 
on  a  single  prominent  comrade  on  his  journey  and  without 
visiting  ihe  headquarters  of  the  party  in  a  neutral  country, 
as  happened  here  in  Chicago.  Gorki,  Maeterlinck,  Haupt- 
mann,  Wells,  Sudermann,  Anatole  France,  Kropotkin, 
Haeckel  turn  violent  patriots." 

The  conclusion,  here,  should  be  that  it  was  just  be- 
cause these  men  had  the  "  best  and  clearest  heads " 
amongst  the  Socialist  groups,  that  they  came  back  to 
sanity,  by  rendering  unto  Caesar  what  is  due  to  Caesar, 
since  each  man  in  his  respective  country  obeyed  his 
country's  mandate.  However,  it  was  left  for  John  R. 
McMahon  —  who  has  written  extensively  for  party  press 
—  to  come  a  little  nearer  to  the  issue.  In  strict  con- 
formity with  his  false  philosophy  he  reverses  the  order 
of  things  natural,  by  making  the  return  of  the  prodigal 
son  a  crime.     To  quote: 

"  Socialism  in  Europe  is  guilty  of  a  monstrous  crime. 
It  has  swallowed  its  principles,  spat  upon  brotherhood,  be- 
trayed the  class  it  professes  to  represent,  everlastingly  dis- 
graced the  red  banner  of  internationalism.  It  has  sur- 
rendered to  the  enemy;  it  has  joined  with  enthusiastic 
abandon  the  capitalistic  and  dynastic  butchers  who  are  turn- 
ing Europe  into  a  people's  killing  bed. 

"  These  are  severe  charges  for  a  Socialist  to  make  against 
Socialists.  I  make  them,  and  I  know  that  hundreds  of  my 
comrades  in  this  country  are  making  them  in  their  hearts, 
though  they  may  not  have  yet  publicly  expressed  them. 


92  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

"  Troelstra,  leader  of  the  Dutch  Socialists,  says  that  after 
the  war  the  international  movement  will  have  to  be  re- 
constructed. He  is  right.  Socialism  will  have  to  vivisect 
from  itself  its  shining  apostles  in  many  lands  —  Vander- 
velde  of  Belgium,  Guesde  of  France,  several  Englishmen  and 
Austrians,  Deputy  Haase  and  a  large  number  of  his  fellow 
Judases  masquerading  as  Socialists  in  the  German  Reich- 
stag. And  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Socialist  army  must  be 
purged  of  perhaps  half  its  members,  who  are  perfectly 
good  patriots  and  butchers  with  a  sickly  tendency  toward 
reform. 

"  All  our  news  from  Europe  is  censored.  Is  it  not  possible 
that  cunning  military  authorities  have  invented  the  patriotic 
spasms  of  Gustave  Herve,  the  fatherland  drivel  of  Germany, 
the  motherland  whine  of  England,  and  that  appeal  of  German 
Socialists  (God  save  the  name!)  to  Italian  and  Dutch  com- 
rades to  "  come  on  in,  the  blood  is  fine "  ?  Let  us  assume 
that  these  things  have  been  invented,  that  the  military  au- 
thorities are  writing  and  publishing  the  Socialist  news- 
papers and  Socialist  manifestos  of  Europe.  Assume  so 
much,  and  yet  we  can  hardly  doubt  the  equally  monstrous 
facts  that  Vandervelde,  a  leader  of  the  international  party, 
took  a  job  in  the  war  cabinet  of  Belgivun,  that  Jules  Guesde, 
the  once  venerable  revolutionist  of  France,  became  a  war 
minister  of  the  French  republic,  and  that  English  Socialism's 
best  word  to  the  combatants  (excepting  Keir  Hardie's  stal- 
wart but  vain  protest)  has  been  to  use  the  bayonet  on  our 
foreign  comrades  —  gently. 

"Millions  who  had  been  singing 

The    International    Party 
Shall  he-the  human  race! 

took  up  the  refrain  of  '  Deutschland  iiber  AUes ! '  '  Allons, 
enfants  de  la  Patrie! '  and  '  God  Save  the  King! '  "  (Inde- 
pendent, N.  Y.,  Oct.  12,  1914.) 


PATRIOTISM  93 

From  another  element  in  the  melting-pot  of  Socialism 
we  select  a  statement  from  a  prominent  writer  — 
William  Morris  Feigenbaum.  {New  York  Call,  June 
4,  1916.) 

"Internationalism  is  a  structure  that  we  strove  long  and 
manfully  to  build  up.  Internationalism  was  a  structure  that 
meant  much  to  millions.  But  the  time  of  war  came.  The 
trumpet  blew.  The  flag  waved.  The  cheap  and  shoddy  Em- 
peror made  a  claptrap  speech  about  the  sword  being  forced 
into  his  hand.  And  millions  of  Socialist  voters  goose-stepped 
after  Hindenburg,  as  if  they  had  never  considered  them- 
selves Comrades  of  the  French  and  the  Belgians  and  the 
English!  And  the  French  and  the  Russians  and  the  Aus- 
trians  were  as  bad." 

With  the  exception  of  a  few  leaders,  here,  who,  under 
the  pressure  of  loyalty  to  country,  resigned  from  party 
membership,  the  entire  body  of  the  organized  Socialist 
movement  of  the  United  States  was  hostile  to  the  "war 
Socialists "  of  Europe.  A  vigorous  propaganda  was 
initiated  to  hold  American  Socialists  back  to  the  treason- 
able principles  of  the  International  as  against  the 
natural  promptings  of  love  and  duty  that  calls  sound 
men  to  the  defense  of  their  country  and  so  gives  them 
that  heroic  distinction  that  all  delight  to  honor. 

As  it  began  to  appear  certain  that  our  country  would 
enter  the  conflict,  the  New  York  Call  offered  prizes 
for  the  best  terse  statements  "  concerning  war  and  the 
Socialist  attitude  towards  it."  Evidently  many  men 
put  despicable  words  on  paper  in  answer  to  the  Call's 
request  for  a  terse  statement  of  what  in  the  nature  of 


94  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

things  must  prove  to  be  disloyalty.  Charles  A.  Maurer, 
editor  of  the  Reading  (Pa.)  Labor  Advocate  was  found 
to  have  filled  the  Call's  highest  expectations  and  so  won 
the  first  prize  for  his  answer: 

"  In  the  event  of  sudden  declaration  of  war  against  this 
country  what  should  the  Socialists  do? 

"  Answer :  If  war  should  be  declared  by  this  country,  then 
the  Socialists  should  refuse  and  advise  all  workers  to  refuse 
to  enlist  and  fight  conscription  to  the  last  ditch.  Also  agi- 
tate strikes  in  industries  everywhere."  (New  York  Call, 
June  26,  1916.) 

It  was  so  long  a  time  since  God  had  been  in  fashion 
with  the  governments  of  the  world  that  Socialists  were 
surprised  to  find  that  patriotism  should  have  so  much 
blood.  They  had  persuaded  a  multitude  of  men  to 
abandon  the  thought  and  the  practise  of  religion;  to 
deny  the  family  as  a  moral  entity;  to  deny  the  hope 
of  justice  to  the  working  class  so  long  as  the  state  de- 
fended the  right  of  private  property  in  productive  capi- 
tal ;  to  deny  even  the  integrity  of  nations  —  that  it  was 
their  confident  assumption  that  within  their  camp 
patriotism  was  dead. 

But,  when  the  war  drum  sounded  that  ever-living 
principle  was  found  stirring  to  action  even  in  the 
breasts  of  their  materialistically  minded  comrades ;  then, 
it  was  that  every  effort  must  be  put  forward  for  killing 
the  "  Patriotic  bee  "  that  was  buzzing  in  the  workman's 
bonnet.  Thus  it  was  so  much  the  extension  of  their 
propaganda  as  the  saving  of  their  own  force  that  oc- 
cupied the  movement  for  a  time.     In  answer  to  the  ac- 


PATRIOTISM  05 

cusation  that  Socialism  undermines  patriotism  the  New 
York  Call  boasts: 

"  So  it  does,  and  is  proud  of  it,  if  by  patriotism  is 
meant  that  mawkish  sentiment  which  causes  a  man  for  the 
sum  of  $15  a  month  to  get  out  and  get  himself  killed  in 
defense  of  a  country  of  which  he  owns  not  a  single  foot  and 
can  never  hope  to  own  any.  If  a  wage  slave  is  paid  only 
enough  to  live  on  anyhow,  what  difference  to  him  does  it 
make  whether  his  boss  is  a  Britisher  or  a  Chinaman?" 
(Sept.  25,  1912.) 

But  the  accusation  stands!  As  patriotism  is  not  a 
"  mawkish  sentiment "  nor  is  it  a  part  of  patriotism 
to  live  contentedly  as  a  "  wage-slave."  Besides, 
whether  or  not  a  man  owns  land  —  and  many  of  our 
best  citizens  are  not  land  owners,  it  is  his  privilege  and 
his  duty  to  aid  in  forming  a  correct  public  opinion,  by 
a  defense  of  his  faith  and  his  fatherland.  Moreover, 
he  may  so  place  his  vote  as  to  be  Sure  that  his  convictions 
will  be  wrought  out  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  a  good 
government.  It  is  all  a  matter  of  right-thinking  and  of 
courageous  action  in  this  our  own  free  land. 

In  the  Anti-Military  edition  of  the  World  (Socialist 
Weekly,  Oakland,  California,  Vol.  2,  p.  181)  Selig 
Schulberg  avers : 

"  The  Socialist  must  understand  that  as  long  as  a  wage 
slave  has  a  patriotic  bee  buzzing  in  his  bonnet,  he  is  in  no 
shai)e  to  understand  what  is  meant  by  International  Social- 
ism. 

"It  is  our  imperative  duty  to  murder  the  patriotic  bees, 
and  the  sooner  we  accomplish  this  the  sooner  will  this  and 


96  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  coming  generation  of  mankind  enjoy  the  entire  product 
of  their  toil." 

It  has  long  been  the  Socialist  policy  to  pull  down  the 
honor  of  those  great  patriots  who  spent  their  fortune  and 
their  blood  that  lovers  of  liberty  might  here  build  up 
a  nation  free  from  oppression  and  greed.  Erom  two 
of  their  foremost  authorities  we  shall  take  testimony : 

"No  part  of  American  history  has  been  so  completely 
buried  beneath  a  mish-mash  of  patriotism  and  humbug  as 
the  Revolution  of  1776. 

"  A  very  superficial  examination  of  the  annals  of  this 
period  will  reveal  evidence  enough  to  show  that,  even  ac- 
cording to  orthodox  historians,  the  '  fathers  of  their  coun- 
try' were  a  rather  select  circle  of  smugglers  and  land 
thieves."  (Arthur  Morrow  Lewis,  "  Vital  Problems  of  Social 
Evolution,"  pp.  92-93.) 

Ernest  Unterman  says : 

"  An  American  workingman  who  celebrates  the  fourth  of 
July  is  like  a  French  workingman  who  celebrates  the  18th 
Brumaire  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  or  a  Russian  workingman 
who  celebrates  the  victory  of  the  Romanoffs.  He  is  cele- 
brating the  victory  of  his  oppressors"  (p.  128).  Mr.  Unter- 
man declares  that  Washington  was  a  liar  and  a  thief  (p. 
116)  ;  Jefferson,  Franklin  and  Hamilton,  unscrupulous  land 
grabbers  (p.  117) ;  Lafayette  a  haughty  aristocrat  (p.  118) ; 
Steuben  a  despot  and  Hancock  a  smuggler  (p.  117,  "  The 
World's  Revolutions,"  Ernest  Unterman). 

In  practise  as  in  theory  Socialist  leaders  insist,  as 
against  the  force  of  common  sense,  in  carrying  out  the 


PATRIOTISM  9Y 

teachings  of  their  masters  —  Marx  and  Engels.  The 
recent  action  of  the  Socialist  members  of  the  New 
York  Board  of  Aldermen  in  voting  for  the  Victory 
Arch  —  in  honor  of  the  soldiers  who  so  loyally  and 
valiantly  defended  the  honor  of  our  country  and  our 
flag  —  under  Generals  Foch  and  Pershing  —  at  first 
glance  seems  to  be  an  exception.  It  is  not !  These  un- 
lucky wights,  who  in  a  fit  of  stupor  voted  for  the  Victory 
Arch,  were  haled  before  a  joint  meeting  of  the  six 
Central  Committees  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  Greater 
IsTew  York,  assembled  in  the  People's  House  to  review 
the  work  of  their  seven  aldermen.  Their  apology  is  as 
ludicrous  as  it  is  pitiful: 

"Personally,"  said  Alderman  Algernon  Lee,  "I  can  say 
that  no  greater  favor  can  be  done  me  than  by  relieving  me 
of  my  job  as  alderman.  It  is  hard,  unpleasant  work,  and 
there  is  other  Socialist  work  that  I  would  far  rather  do. 
I  will  say,  for  me  and  all  my  colleagues,  that  we  all  heartily 
regret  that  vote  as  a  vote  for  something  that  tends  to  incul- 
cate a  chauvinistic  and  jingo  spirit;  and  if  it  had  not  been 
for  the  circumstance  that  the  vote  was  sprung  on  us  in  a 
minute,  without  warning,  and  that  I,  for  one  was  fagged  out, 
that  I  had  been  36  hours  without  sleep,  that  I  was  in  a  daze, 
I  assure  you  that  I  for  one  would  have  vot^d  no,  and  would 
have  told  the  Comrades  to  do  likewise." 

It  surely  is  a  satisfaction  to  note  that  under  the 
influence  of  well  poised  men  those  of  unbalanced  thought 
come  back  to  the  normal.  Even  as  these  Socialist 
aldermen,  who,  by  a  long  course  of  perverse  reasoning 
and  teaching  believe  themselves  to  be  fully  persuaded 


98  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

that  the  self-sacrifice  and  heroic  courage  of  patriots  is 
the  means  of  inculcating  "  a  chauvinistic  and  jingo 
spirit,"  are  cured  for  the  nonce  of  treason. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  many  a  man  striving  to  up- 
hold the  natural  virtues  for  love  of  country  is  now^  well 
aware  that  the  vicious  propaganda  of  Socialism  in  our 
country  —  in  all  countries  —  is  cause  for  positive  alarm. 
He,  too,  though  from  a  very  different  point  of  view, 
needs  to  get  more  than  an  occasional  glimpse  of  that 
safe  and  sound  state  of  the  truly  Catholic  mind.  Yet, 
merely  a  glimpse  gives  such  an  one  pause.  The  wonder 
grows!  Is  it  after  all  the  truth  that  Almighty  God 
has  given  into  the  keeping  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
of  the  world  —  under  the  headship  of  the  Pope  of  Rome 
—  the  known  cure  for  national  evils?  So  the  case 
stands!  Help  us.  Lord,  or  we  perish!  But  it  is  true. 
Honest  men  have  but  to  see  for  themselves  that  the 
Church  has  set  forth  the  practical  application  of  the 
Ten  Commandments  to  every-day  life  within  the  scope 
of  civil  society.  Besides,  there  are  sane  examples  of 
the  brotherhood  of  man  —  here  and  there  —  within  in- 
dustry and  commerce.  With  regard  to  the  family  as 
the  unit  of  the  Commonwealth,  the  example  of  Catholics 
throughout  the  world  is  the  one  truly  righteous  element 
in  civilization  since  the  Church  is  the  defense  of  the 
inviolability  of  the  marriage  bond  as  God  ordained  it. 

The  conclusion  is  perfect  —  a  closer  knowledge  of  the 
one  true  religion  would  go  far  to  induce  men  of  good- 
will no  more  to  follow  after  strange  gods. 


PATRIOTISM  99 

Personally,  we  rejoice  in  the  truth  that  makes  men 
free:  in  being  followers  of  Christ  under  the  banner  of 
our  dearly  beloved  leader,  Boston's  great  Archbishop  — 
Cardinal  O'Connell :  in  the  privilege  that  was  ours  some 
twelve  years  ago  to  hear  His  Eminence  deliver  his  elo- 
quent address  on  that  ideal  patriot  —  Joan  of  Arc  — 
that  bespoke  Socialism  as  it  is : 

"  Amid  the  new  and  strange  doctrines  which  .  .  .  Social- 
ism has  begotten  in  our  own  time  none  is  falser,  none  more 
inhuman,  none  more  vicious  and  dangerous  in  its  effects 
and  conclusions  than  that  foolish  and  degrading  theory  by 
which  the  sentiment  of  patriotism  is  flouted  and  denied.  By 
its  endeavors  to  tear  out  from  the  human  heart  all  its  inborn 
sentiments  of  reverence  for  rulers  and  for  law  it  seeks  to 
kill  in  humanity  its  natural  love  for  home  and  all  that  is 
expressed  by  that  sacred  word.  To  them  nothing  is  sacred, 
neither  God  nor  his  altars,  nor  his  ministers,  nor  home,  nor 
native  land,  nor  wife,  nor  family.  For  Socialism,  according 
to  its  accredited  teachers,  would  wipe  out  forever  from  human 
life,  all  the  sweet  consolations  as  well  as  all  the  noble  duties 
which  these  human  relations  have  ever  inspired  in  the  normal 
man.  No  fatherland,  no  banner,  no  fireside,  no  altar,  no 
ruler,  no  God.  Thus  are  summed  up  all  the  damnable  nega- 
tions of  this  Satanic  doctrine,  which  overturns  with  one  fell 
blow  all  the  holiest  principles  of  himian  life.  No  wonder  that 
where  the  voice  of  these  prophets  of  evil  is  listened  to  and 
obeyed  the  disorder  of  hell  reigns." 

Most  certainly,  the  world-wide  unity  of  Catholics  in 
defense  of  faith,  patriotism  and  purity  against  blas- 
phemy, treason  and  adultery,  has  brought  down  upon 
Holy    Catholic    Church    the   venom    of    anti-patriots. 


100  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

POPE  BUNKUM  IV  &  CO. 

ROME 

THE  WORLD'S  MOST  RELIABLE  AND 

SUGOESSFUL  DEALERS  IN 

SUPERSTITION 

We  Carry  the  Original,  Getitthie  Gospel 
Goods  Guaranteed  to  Prodnce  Anesthesia 
Among  the  Masses»  So  That  the  Victims 
Can  Be  Skinned  in^  Times  of  Peace,  or 
Made  to  ^oot  Ea^  Other  in  Times  of 
War 

The  Patronage  (^  the  &nling  Classes  of  AB 
Nationis  Religiously  Solicited 

llF*Begtilarly  Ordained  Representatives  in 
Brcry  Country 


PROF.  W.  WARSOON 

Washington,  D.  Cr, 

CHAMBERMAID  TO  THE  AMERICAN 

AMMUNITION  MAKERS 

Boosted  by  the  Press.. ^pit,  Politicians  and 
Other  Plutocratic  Agencies  Subsidized 
for  the  Purpose  of  Moulding  Public 
Opinion 

Money-Making  Wars  Systematically  Started 
With  the  Least  Possible  Suspicion  on  the 
Part  of  the  Homswoggled  People 

tfTh*  Professor  Is  a  8elf-Mad»  Authority  on  the  Inter, 
pretatlon  of  the  Rules  Regulating  CJvlllzed  War- 
fare. Those  Financially  Interested  In  Wars, 
Anil  Who  Desire  Hts  Services,  Will  Please 
Notify  Hlmr  In  Advance  How  They  Wish  Theae 
Rules  Interprotcd 


PATRIOTISM  101 

Apologizing  for  its  vileness  the  above  presents  exhibits 
that  appeared  in  the  Melting  Pot  (St.  Louis,  June, 
1916)  an  atheist — Socialist  —  anti-patriotic  monthly 
that  goes  out  highly  recommended  by  Eugene  V.  Debs, 
agitator-superior ;  Margaret  Sanger,  the  "  queen  "  of 
the  birth  control  propaganda,  and  other  leading  radicals, 
to  create  a  vile  public  opinion  consonant  with  the  filth 
that  it  spews  forth. 

It  was  our  country's  entrance  into  war 'that  brought 
out  into  the  open  public  view,  the  sharply  opposing  doc- 
trines of  the  Pope  and  Socialism  as  they  apply  to  the 
authority  and  domain  of  Caesar.  Catholics  to  the  last 
man,  woman  and  youth  were  precisely  and  ardently 
loyal.  While  all  those  who  are  guided  by  the  teachings 
of  modern  Socialism  to  regard  the  international  revolu- 
tion as  their  means  and  a  classless  society  as  the'  end 
all  and  be  all  of  human  effort,  were  at  best  anti-patriotic, 
at  worst  treasonable. 

Immediately,  after  war  was  officially  declared  the 
hierarchy  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States 
addressed  to  President  Wilson  the  determination  of 
Catholics  to  stand  true  to  our  country,  our  government 
and  our  flag. 

The  Hierarchy's  Call 
"  Standing  firmly  upon  our  solid  Catholic  tradition  and 
history  from  the  very  foundation  of  this  nation,  we  reaffirm 
in  this  hour  of  stress  and  trial  our  most  sacred  and  sincere 
loyalty  and  patriotism  toward  our  country,  our  Government, 
and  our  flag.  Moved  to  the  very  depths  of  our  hearts  by 
the  stirring  appeal  of  the  President  of  the  United  States 


102  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

and  by  the  action  of  our  national  Congress,  we  accept  whole- 
heartedly and  unreservedly  the  decree  of  that  legislative 
authority  proclaiming  this  country  to  be  in  a  state  of  war. 
We  have  prayed  that  we  might  be  spared  the  dire  necessity 
of  entering  the  conflict.  But  now  that  war  has  been  declared, 
we  bow  in  obedience  to  the  summons  to  bear  our  part  in  it, 
with  fidelity,  with  courage,  and  with  the  spirit  of  sacrifice, 
which  as  loyal  citizens  we  are  bound  to  manifest  for  the 
defense  of  the  most  sacred  rights  and  the  welfare  of  the 
whole  nation.  Acknowledging  gladly  the  gratitude  that  we 
have  always  felt  for  the  protection  of  our  spiritual  liberty 
and  the  freedom  of  our  Catholic  institutions  under  the 
flag,  we  pledge  our  devotion  and  our  strength  in  the  main- 
tenance of  our  country's  glorious  leadership  in  those  pos- 
sessions and  principles  which  have  been  America's  proudest 
boast.  Inspired  neither  by  hate  nor  fear,  but  by  the  holy 
sentiments  of  truest  patriotic  fervor  and  zeal,  we  stand  ready, 
we  and  all  the  flock  committed  to  our  keeping,  to  cooperate 
in  every  way  possible  with  our  President  and  our  national 
Government,  to  the  end  that  the  great  and  holy  cause  of 
liberty  may  triumph,  and  that  our  beloved  country  may 
emerge  from  this  hour  of  test  stronger  and  nobler  than 
ever.  Our  people  now,  as  ever,  will  rise  as  one  man  to 
serve  the  nation.  Our  priests  and  consecrated  women  will 
once  again  as  in  every  former  trial  of  our  country,  win  by 
their  bravery,  their  heroism,  and  their  service,  new  admira- 
tion and  approval.  We  are  all  true  Americans,  ready,  as 
our  age,  our  ability,  and  our  condition  permit,  to  do  what- 
ever is  in  us  to  do,  for  the  preservation,  the  progress,  and 
the  triumph  of  our  beloved  country.  May  God  direct  and 
guide  our  President  and  our  Government,  that  out  of  this 
trying  crisis  in  our  national  life  may  at  length  come  a 
closer  union  among  all  the  citizens  of  America,  and  that  an 
enduring  and  blessed  peace  may  crown  the  sacrifices  which 
war  inevitably  entails." 


PATRIOTISM  103 

Cakdinai.  Gibbons 

Cardinal  Gibbons,  in  patriotic  words,  delivered  a 
memorable  address  from  the  pulpit  of  his  Cathedral  in 
Baltimore  the  Sunday  after  our  country  was  officially 
declared  to  be  in  a  state  of  war: 

"  The  primary  duty  of  a  citizen  is  loyalty  to  country  .  .  . 
exhibited  by  an  absolute  and  unreserved  obedience  to  hia 
country's  call  .  .  .  manifested  by  solemn  service,  not  by 
empty  declamation.  ...  In  the  present  emergency  it  be- 
hooves every  American  citizen  to  do  his  duty,  to  uphold  the 
hands  of  the  President  and  the  Congress  in  the  solemn  ob- 
ligations that  confront  us,  to  pray  that  the  Lord  of  Hosts 
may  inspire  them  to  such  measures  as  will  redound  to  the 
glory  of  our  country,  to  righteousness  of  aim  and  conduct 
and  to  the  future  permanent  peace  of  the  world." 

Cakdinai.  Tailley 

From  the  pulpit  of  his  See  in  New  York,  Cardinal 
Farley  solemnly  declared  on  that  same  fateful  Sunday : 

"  Our  President  and  our  national  Representatives  having 
spoken,  our  response  to  the  voice  of  authority  which  they 
embody  will  be  to  rally  around  our  flag  with  complete  ful- 
ness of  devotion,  with  loyal  hearts  and  sturdiest  arms,  to 
place  all  that  we  have  and  all  that  we  are,  at  the  service  of 
our  country.  We  will  not  shrink  from  any  sacrifice  in  her 
behalf.  We  will  render  to  her  what  our  Catholic  faith  and 
teaching  both  sanction  and  sanctify.  No  demand  on  our 
citizenship  will  go  unanswered  or  find  us  other  than  true 
Americans,  true  children  of  the  Church,  which  never  was 
found  wanting  in  any  crisis  of  our  country." 


104  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

Caedinal.  O'Connell 

On  that  same  Easter  Sunday  (1917)  at  his  See  in 
Boston,  Cardinal  O'Connell  lifted  up  his  voice : 

"  God  and  our  Nation !  Let  us  lift  to  Heaven  the  cry. 
Let  the  love  of  true  freedom  —  blessed,  God-given  freedom, 
vs^hich  above  all  other  lands  our  country  has  cherished  and 
defended  —  let  that  be  the  thrilling  power  that  will  quicken 
our  pulses  into  a  still  greater  love  of  America  than  we  have 
ever  known  till  now.  Whatever  we  can  do  in  honor  and 
justice,  that  we  must  in  conscience  do  to  defeat  our  enemy 
and  make  our  Flag  triumphant." 

Ah !  dear  Lord !  what  a  contrast  is  the  enlightened  at- 
titude and  action  of  Catholics  to  the  lack  of  understand- 
ing of  things  human  and  the  perverse  conduct  of 
Socialists !  The  Emergency  Convention  of  the  Social- 
ist Party  ('St.  Louis,  April  7,  1917)  sent  out  its  report 
signed  by  the  Committee  on  war  and  militarism : 

Kate  Richards  O'Hare,  Chairman. 

Victor  L.  Berger. 

Job  Harriman. 

Morris  Hillquit. 

Dan  Hogan. 

Frank  Midney. 

Patrick  Quinlan. 

C,  E.  Euthenberg. 

Maynard  Shipley. 

George  Spiess,  Jr. 

Algernon  Lee,  Secretary. 

To  quote  in  part : 

"  The  Socialist  party  of  the  United  States,  in  the  present 
grave  crisis,  solemnly  reaffirms  its  allegiance  to  the  principle 


PATRIOTISM  105 

of  internationalism  and  working  class  solidarity  the  world 
over,  and  proclaims  its  unalterable  opposition  to  the  war 
just  declared  by  the  government  of  the  United  States. 

"  The  Socialist  party  of  the  United  States  is  vmalterably 
opposed  to  the  system  of  exploitation  and  class  rule  which  is 
upheld .  and  strengthened  by  military  power  and  sham  na- 
tional patriotism.  We,  therefore,  call  upon  the  workers  of 
all  countries  to  refuse  support  to  their  governments  in  their 
wars.  The  wars  of  the  contending  national  groups  of  capi- 
talists are  not  the  concern  of  the  workers.  The  only  struggle 
which  would  justify  the  workers  in  taking  up  arms  is  the 
great  struggle  of  the  working  class  of  the  world  to  free 
itself  from  economic  exploitation  and  political  oppression  as 
against  the  false  doctrine  of  national  patriotism.  We  uphold 
the  ideal  of  international  working  class  solidarity.  In  sup- 
port of  capitalism,  we  will  not  willingly  give  a  single  life  or 
a  single  dollar;  in  support  of  the  struggle  of  the  workers  for 
freedom  we  pledge  our  all. 

"  Our  entrance  into  the  European  conflict  at  this  time 
will  serve  only  to  multiply  the  horrors  of  the  war,  to  increase 
the  toll  of  death  and  destruction  and  to  prolong  the  fiendish 
slaughter.  It  will  bring  death,  suffering  and  destitution  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States  and  particularly  to  the  work- 
ing class.  It  will  give  the  powers  of  reaction  in  this  country 
the  pretext  for  an  attempt  to  throttle  our  rights  and  to 
crush  our  democratic  institutions,  and  to  fasten  upon  this 
country  a  permanent  militarism. 

"  We  recommend  to  the  workers  and  pledge  ourselves  to 
the  following  course  of  action: 

"  1.  Continuous,  active,  and  public  opposition  to  the  war, 
through  demonstrations,  mass  petitions,  and  all  other  means 
within  our  power. 

"2.  Unyielding  opposition  to  all  proposed  legislation  for 
military  or  industrial  conscription.  Should  such  conscrip- 
tion be  forced  upon  the  people,  we  pledge  ourselves  to  con- 


106  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

tinuous  efforts  for  the  repeal  of  such  laws  and  to  the  support 
of  all  mass  movements  in  opposition  to  conscription.  We 
pledge  ourselves  to  oppose  with  all  our  strength  any  attempt 
to  raise  money  for  the  payment  of  war  expense  by  taxing 
the  necessaries  of  life  or  issuing  bonds  which  will  put  the 
burden  upon  future  generations.  We  demand  that  the 
capitalist  class,  which  is  responsible  for  the  war,  pay  its 
cost.     Let  those  who  kindled  the  fire  furnish  the  fuel. 

"  3.  Vigorous  resistance  to  all  reactionary  measures,  such 
as  censorship  of  press  and  mails,  restriction  of  the  rights  of 
free  speech,  assemblage,  and  organization,  or  compulsory 
arbitration  and  limitation  of  the  right  to  strike. 

"  4.  Consistent  propaganda  against  military  training  and 
militaristic  teaching  in  the  public  schools. 

"  5.  Extension  of  the  campaign  of  education  among  the 
workers  to  organize  them  into  strong,  class-conscious,  and 
closely  unified  political  and  industrial  organizations  to  en- 
able them  by  concerted  and  harmonious  mass  action  to 
shorten  this  war  and  to  establish  lasting  peace. 

"  6.  Widespread  educational  propaganda  to  enlighten  the 
masses  as  to  the  true  relation  between  capitalism  and  war, 
and  to  rouse  and  organize  them  for  action,  not  only  against 
present  war  evils,  but  for  the  prevention  of  future  wars 
and  for  the  destruction  of  the  causes  of  war." 

These  declarations  were  adopted  by  a  vote  of  140  of 
the  less  than  200  delegates  who  attended  the  Emergency 
Convention  of  the  Socialist  Party,  in  the  Planters' 
Hotel,  St.  Louis.  This  action  of  the  convention  was 
endorsed  by  a  referendum  vote  of  11,041  to  782  of  their 
organized  Socialist  membership  throughout  the  country. 
Surely  it  was  with  great  speed  that  the  enemy  over- 
sowed the  good  seed  of  patriotism  with  the  cockle  of 
treason.     The  very  next  day  after  war  was  declared, 


PATRIOTISM  107 

before  any  other  organization  had  spoken,  Socialism 
declared  against  patriotism.  While  the  first  to  pledge 
loyalty  to  our  flag,  wheresoever  it  should  be  borne,  was 
the  entire  body  of  Catholic  citizens  —  through  the  voice 
of  the  American  hierarchy. 

War  Itself  ^ 

The  consequences  that  come  from  publishing  broad- 
cast this  action  of  the  Emergency  Convention  as  news 
and  still  more  from  putting  it,  as  a  text  book,  into  the 
hands  of  thousands  of  aggressive  agitators  is  quite  be- 
yond our  concrete  view.  Yet,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  to 
its  poison  should  be  traced  many  an  assault  upon  patriot- 
ism. It  is  not  to  war  per  se  that  Socialism  objects: 
ITot  at  all !  Its  "  unalterable  opposition  to  the  war 
just  declared  by  the  government  of  the  United  States  " 
is  upon  the  assumption  that  "  the  only  struggle  which 
would  justify  the  workers  taking  up  arms  is  the  great 
struggle  of  the  working  class  to  free  itself  from  eco- 
nomic exploitation  and  political  oppression  against  a 
false  doctrine  of  national  patriotism." 

In  simple  words  —  as  national  patriotism  is  the  one 
and  only  kind  of  patriotism  ever  known  to  mankind 
throughout  the  ages,  Socialism  will  have  none  of  it, 
simply  because  it  is  an  integral  part  of  human  nature, 
for  they  have  made  over  human  nature  after  a  pattern 
all  their  own.  Surely,  no  man  can  fancy  a  monkey 
to  have  patriotic  emotions  —  and  this  animal  basis  is 
the  ground  upon  which  Socialists  estimate  the  actions  of 
men.     They  will  fight !  yes !     Not  for  the  principle  of 


108  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

the  self-determination  of  nations  but  for  the  very  self- 
same reason  that  the  "  capitalist  class  "  sets  on  the  dogs 
of  war  —  the  spoils.  "  InternationalisTn!  —  the  only 
war  in  which  workers  should  enlist  is  the  class  war." 
This  is  the  instruction  given  by  Arthur  Le  Sueur  — 
member  of  the  Socialist  party  Ex.  Com.  January,  1916. 
It  is  for  Socialism  that  "  we  will  mount  the  barricades 
and  fight  like  tigers,"  is  the  urge  of  Morris  Hillquit, 
than  whom  no  man  has  a  louder  voice  in  the  party.  In 
his  honor  the  New  York  Call  (May  14,  1917)  one 
month  after  our  country  entered  the  war,  put  his  battle 
cry  into  rhyme  with  the  refrain : 

"  And  fight  our  fight  on  the  barricades ! " 
All  over  our  home-land  in  manifold  detail,  their  argu- 
ment proceeds  against  the  justice  of  our  cause  in  defense 
of  American  right  or  American  honor.  This  war  "  is 
a  crime  against  the  people  of  the  United  States  and 
against  the  nations  of  the  world."  Against  this  special 
pleading,  in  the  interest  of  a  classless  society  that  must 
be  established  by  a  proletarian  dictatorship  such  as  that 
of  Lenin  and  Trotsky  —  the  world  knows  that  our  sac- 
rifice of  blood  and  treasure  was  freely  made  for  no 
selfish  ends,  no  indemnities  or  compensation,  no  desire 
for  military  glory  or  dominion.  '  No,  the  "  crime  "  is 
not  ours  as  a  nation!  The  crime  lies  at  the  door  of 
Socialism  as  our  courts  amply  testify. 

Yet,  it  is  not  a  crime  to  seek  foreign  markets.  itTot 
alone  is  buying  and  selling  as  old  as  the  history  of  man 
—  but  to  the  sanction  of  universal  practise  and  common- 
sense  there  is  added  the  sanction  of  the  old  law,  and 


PATRIOTISM  109 

the  old  law  itself  is  further  extended  in  the  instruction 
given  bj  our  Lord  Himself  as  the  Gospels  will  testify. 
So  it  is  most  commendable  enterprise  to  carry  the 
products  of  industry  —  the  knowledge  of  science  and  art 
into  a  far  country  and  to  return  home  laden  with  a 
just  exchange  in  material  wealth.  The  flag  must  in- 
deed go  with  trade,  since  national  honor  must  be  ob- 
served by  our  citizens  who  sell,  and  national  honor 
must  be  paid  by  those  with  whom  we  trade.  Economic 
justice  is  the  basis  of  the  exchange  of  material  goods  for 
material  goods;  which  results  to  the  mutual  advantage 
of  buyer  and  seller,  and  without  commerce  civilization 
were  void.  It  is  true,  alas!  that  the  ground  of  equity 
has  too  often  been  betrayed  by  international  transactions, 
especially  with  primitive  peoples.  But  Catholics  have 
no  quarrel  with  those  who  seek  justice.  Indeed,  in- 
justice is  their  cause  of  quarrel  and  greatly  it  has  been 
waged  throughout  all  the  Christian  centuries,  in  the 
especial  interest  of  the  oppressed  and  the  poor.  To  be 
sure  it  is  this  betrayal  of  the  equities  involved  in  trade 
that  often  leads  to  war  between  nations.  But,  this 
issue  is  not  yet  pushed  home.  When  the  state  commits 
a  crime  against  its  neighbor  state,  it  is  men  who  perform 
the  unlawful  acts.  So  the  crime  of  the  state  is  the 
personal  sin  of  the  men  engaged  in  undoing  their  neigh- 
bors of  other  countries.  Hence  the  denial  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man  is  the  real  issue  under  consideration. 
How  ridiculously  inconsistent,  then,  for  Socialists  to 
inveigh  against  the  exploitation  of  the  poor  by  the  rich 
since  all  such  indignities  and  crimes  rest  upon  a  belief 


110  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

in  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  not  upon  the  animal  origin  of 
man  that  Socialists  profess.  We  shall  trust  to  the 
Holy  Father's  opinion  that  the  nations  of  the  European 
war  were  "  all  equally  guilty."  Yet,  that  fact  does  not 
argue  against  the  defense  of  their  several  national  lives 
when  the  conflict  is  on,  partly  inherited  from  other  years 
of  strife  and  partly  induced  by  unworthy  motives  that 
appeal  to  the  selfish  interests  of  rulers.  Surely,  if  in 
a  personal  quarrel  one  has  been  the  most  to  blame,  one 
must  defend  his  life  when  the  fight  comes  on.  ISTor 
does  it  mitigate  against  the  part  our  country  so  honor- 
ably played  in  preventing  the  "  suicide  "  of  all  Europe, 
for  a  looker-on  is  bound  to  step  in  to  prevent  the  death 
of  the  under  dog.  ^N^ow  this  is  but  another  way  of 
saying  that  the  Socialist  way  to  prevent  "  crime  "  is 
the  way  to  commit  crime.  Namely  —  the  extinction  of 
organized  society.  They  would  let  nations  "  die  out " 
in  favor  of  those  men  who  claim  the  world  for  their 
country. 

Yet,  here  we  come  to  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter, 
and  its  evils  are  as  broad  as  they  are  long.  The  "  dic- 
tatorship of  the  proletariat "  would  swallow  up  the 
identity  of  nations  in  the  International,  where  might 
is  right  and  the  supreme  state  would  swallow  up  the 
authority  of  God,  and  so  rest  human  rights  upon  human 
will.  ISTo,  Catholics  will  give  to  Caesar  what  belongs  to 
Csesar,  and  to  God  what  belongs  to  God.  So  it  is  simple 
enough  —  whether  the  Catholic  be  in  high  station  or  in 
low  station  there  is  but  one  Supreme  Giver  for  him, 
and  it  U  as  simply  ^^  with  human  nature  as  it  is  —  that 


PATEIOTISM  111 

the  Pope  is  the  one  person  on  earth  having  the  power  to 
keep  in  order  those  who  acknowledge  their  Maker,  be 
they  emperors,  kings,  premiers  or  presidents. 

Th©  Socialist  Party  threatened  to  conduct  "  a  con- 
tinuous active,  public  opposition  to  the  war  "  using  all 
means  within  its  power: 

1.  The  party  would  oppose  all  attempts  to  raise 
money  by  the  sale  of  bonds: 

2.  It  would  support  "  mass-action  "  in  opposition  to 
conscription  if  it  were  voted  into  law  by  the  govern- 
ment: 

3.  It  would  set  up  "  vigorous  resistance "  to  any 
form  of  censorship  of  press  or  speech.  It  would  like- 
wise oppose  governmental  efforts  to  limit  strikes ;  to  en- 
force compulsory  arbitration  of  industrial  disputes  dur- 
ing the  war ;  it  would  strive  against  military  training  in 
schools.  At  the  same  time  the  Socialist  Party  pledged 
itself  to  extend  with  greater  vigor  a  campaign  to  or- 
ganize "  class-conscious  "  industrial  unions.  That  is  to 
say  the  form  of  union  now  operated  by  the  I.  W.  W. 
and  the  Russian  Bolsheviki. 

We  assume  there  is  no  especial  cause  to  believe  that 
foreign  monies  entered  into  the  make-up  of  the  Emer- 
gency Convention  report.  Yet,  that  it  gave  comfort  to 
the  enemy  there  can  be  no  doubt.  The  secret  of  Social- 
ist action,  if  it  be  a  secret,  lies  in  their  basic  mission  — 
the  destruction  of  Christian  civilization.  They  find 
honor  in  perversity  and  glory  in  treason.  Seymour 
Steadman,  member  of  the  l^at.  Ex.  Com.  of  the  Socialist 
Party,  when  defending  his  comrades  for  a  violation  of 


112  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

the  Espionage  Act,  before  Judge  Landis,  plays  the  part 
of  prophet : 

"  Their  children  in  the  years  to  come  would  consider  the 
St.  Louis  majority  report  the  most  comTprehensive  statement 
of  the  cause  of  war  ever  penned." 

Perversity  does  not  even  spare  the  little  ones!  What  a 
bond  of  dishonor  to  bear.  How  blessed  are  the  children  of 
noble  sires  who  give  them  counsel :  "  Let  all  the  ends  thou 
aimst  at  be  thy  country's,  thy  God's,  and  truth's." 

That  report  was  hardly  out-run  by  the  anti-patriotic 
traitors  elsewhere  within  the  confines  of  our  country 
and  it  may  be  doubted  if  any  European  state  at  war  was 
so  badly  plagued  by  a  document,  put  out  in  the  open, 
more  unpatriotic,  incendiary  or  treasonable.  Is  it, 
then,  any  wonder  that  when  the  determination  of  the 
report  was  translated  into  personal  action,  that  Debs, 
Berger,  Germer,  Tucker,  Engdahl,  Kruse,  Fraina,  Kate 
Richards  O'Hare,  Mrs.  Phelps  Stokes  and  the  hundreds 
of  others  are  under  indictment  or  convicted  for  violation 
of  the  Espionage  Act?  But  an  indictment  is  a  badge 
of  honor,  something  to  boast  of.  Art  Young,  the  car- 
toonist sets  out  this  distinction  pictorially  in  Max  East- 
man's Magazine  (the  Liberator,  l^ov.,  1918).  In  a 
half  open  door  a  sergeant-at-arms  threatens  the  new- 
comers and  below  the  picture  is  this  legend: 

Are  you  a  Socialist? 

Certainly. 

Show  your  indictment. 

In  acknowledging  the  compliment  —  of  being  a  good 
Socialist,  "  because  he  can  show  his  indictment  " —  be- 


PATEIOTISM  113 

fore  an  audience  of  10,000  people  assembled  in  the  Coli- 
seum in  Chicago  (Nov.  17,  1918)  by  William  Bross 
Lloyd,  the  Chairman,  Victor  L.  Berger  responded  "  I 
can  show  four  indictments  of  about  sixty  counts.  I  was 
not  indicted  because  I  had  committed  any  crime. — / 
was  indicted  because  I  stood  for  Socialism,  that  was  the 
only  reason/'  The  audience  applauded  to  the  echo; 
seeming  not  to  know  that  the  "  reason  "  was  quite  suf- 
ficient. 

Socialists  flaunt  their  indictments  all  over  the  country 
as  a  proof  of  having  waged  a  good  fight  in  the  interest  of 
free  speech.  The  assumption  is  that  whatever  furthers 
their  cause  may  by  right  be  said,  be  it  never  so  wrong. 
But,  it  is  the  license  of  speech  not  free  speech  that  wins 
them  converts.  One  has  the  right  to  do  only  what  one 
ought  to  want  to  do.  That  ought  ties  every  man  fast  to 
the  Ten  Commandments,  that  are  utterly  repudiated  by 
the  followers  of  Marx  as  being  of  use,  perhaps,  during 
the  infancy  of  the  race,  but  now  hopelessly  out  of  date. 
Power  to  do  wrong  we  all  have,  and  it  is  with  their  power 
that  Socialists  mean  to  establish  a  "  dictatorship  of  the 
proletariat  "  on  the  ruins  of  Christian  civilization  which 
they  are  pleased  to  term  "  capitalism."  They  mean  to 
run  the  red  flag  up  over  the  dome  of  the  capitol  build- 
ing at  Washington  —  over  every  national  capitol  in  the 
world. 

Curiously  enough,  what  is  sauce  for  the  goose  is  not 
sauce  for  the  gander  —  no,  this  legend  will  not  fit,  for 
if  one  should  expect  consistency  from  Socialism  it  would 
be  a  proof  that  he  himself  had  given  over  the  rock  of 


114  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

right-reason  for  the  shifty  sand  of  now-you-have-it-and- 
now-you-don't.  Freedom  of  the  press  and  free  speech 
when  Socialists  are  in  control  confuses  and  poisons  the 
mind  of  the  populace.  Yet,  it  is  in  the  name  of  liberty 
that  Socialists  protest  against  the  right  of  free  speech 
being  cut  off  in  time  of  war.  While  a  violation  of  the 
espionage  law  brings  for  them  nothing  but  approval 
from  their  comrades.  With  one  voice  they  all  agree 
with  Morris  Hillquit's  telegram  to  those  who  were  con- 
victed for  defying  this  war  regulation : 

"The  conviction  is  an  act  of  frank  and  brutal  class 
justice.  It  is  a  deliberate  challenge  to  the  Socialist  move- 
ment —  the  Socialists  will  take  up  the  challenge." 

There  should  be  no  doubt  about  their  determination 
to  do  so,  for  it  is  their  purpose  to  carry  the  class  war 
into  every  department  of  organized  society.  They 
know,  that  when  they  strike  at  patriotism  they  lay  the 
ax  at  the  very  roots  of  national  life.  Socialists  are 
afraid  of  nothing  for  they  have  blinded  themselves  to 
the  existence  of  God.  While  the  consequences  of  dis- 
loyalty to  their  country  is  their  most  fruitful  means  of 
perverse  propaganda. 

The  conclusion  is  perfect  —  if  Americans  desire  Co- 
lumbia to  gloriously  live  her  thousand  years,  her  rich 
sons  must  accept  the  responsibility  of  their  stewardship. 
They  must  do  justice  and  love  mercy  in  dealing  with 
the  laborers  who  are  ever  worthy  of  their  hire.  The 
right  relation  of  man  to  man  comes  first,  the  volume  of  a 
just  profit  second. 


PATRIOTISM  115 

The  wage  earners  —  the  little  ones  of  Christ  —  are 
much  more  sinned  against  than  sinning.  They  have  the 
Gospel  preached  to  them  and  they  sense  that  politicians 
plot  against  their  rights  where  statesmen  should  guard 
them.  They  know  that  a  gamble  for  gold  reduces  their 
rightful  standard  of  living  and  submerges  thousands 
upon  thousands  below  the  level  of  decency. 

"  To  Whom  Shall  We  Go  ?  " 

The  Catholic  Church  ever  true  to  the  teaching  of  her 
Founder  stands  for  patriotism  —  for  peace  not  for  war. 
The  Church  knows  and  she  teaches  the  peace  promised 
by  Christ  to  men  of  good-will.  National  good-will  is 
then  the  condition  of  unity  within  and  a  strong  right 
arm  of  defense  against  bad-will  from  without.  If,  in- 
deed, lust  for  power  and  greed  for  wealth  would  give 
place  to  justice  and  to  right,  then  truly  we  might  "  beat 
our  swords  into  plowshares  and  our  spears  into  pruning- 
hooks."  Catholics  are  well  taught  that  the  state  has 
rights  that  must  be  respected  as  the  laws  of  God.  If, 
then,  all  other  means  shall  have  failed,  the  state  may  re- 
sist by  war  encroachments  upon  her  rights  and  upon  her 
borders.  The  state  may  go  out  to  maintain,  by  force 
of  arms,  what  concerns  her  vital  well-being  as  a  com- 
monwealth. "  By  me  kings  reign  and  lawgivers  de- 
cree just  things."  (Prov.  viii,  15.)  Surely  it  was 
no  accident  that  during  the  World  War  the  glorious  up- 
standing of  all  other  patriots  gladly  gave  place  to  that  of 
Cardinal  Mercier : 


116  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  God  will  save  Belgium,  my  Brethren,  you  cannot  doubt  it. 

"  Nay  rather,  He  is  saving  her. 

"  Across  the  smoke  of  conflagration,  across  the  stream  of 
blood,  have  you  not  glimpses,  do  you  not  perceive  signs  of 
His  love  for  us?  Is  there  a  patriot  among  us  who  does  not 
know  that  Belgium  has  grown  great?  Nay,  which  of  us 
would  have  the  heart  to  cancel  this  last  page  of  our  national 
history?  Which  of  us  does  not  exult  in  the  brightness  of 
the  glory  of  this  shattered  nation?  When  in  her  throes 
she  brings  forth  heroes,  our  Mother  Country  gives  her  own 
energy  to  the  blood  of  those  sons  of  hers.  Let  us  acknowl- 
edge that  we  needed  a  lesson  in  patriotism.  There  were 
Belgians,  and  many  such,  who  wasted  their  time  and  their 
talents  in  futile  quarrels  of  class  with  class,  of  race  with 
race,  of  passion  with  personal  passion. 

"  Yet,  when  on  the  second  of  August,  a  mighty  foreign 
power,  confident  of  its  own  strength  and  defiant  of  the  faith 
of  treaties,  dared  to  threaten  us  in  our  own  independence, 
then  did  all  Belgians,  without  difference  of  party,  or  con- 
dition, or  of  origin,  rise  up  as  one  man,  close  ranged  about 
their  own  king,  and  their  own  government,  and  cry  to  the 
invader :     *  Thou  shalt  not  go  through.' 

"  At  once,  instantly,  we  were  conscious  of  our  own  patriot- 
ism. For  down  within  us  all  is  something  deeper  than  per- 
sonal interests,  than  personal  kinships,  than  party  feeling, 
and  this  is  the  need  and  the  will  to  devote  ourselves  to 
that  more  general  interest  which  Rome  termed  the  public 
thing.  Res  puhlica.  And  this  profound  will  within  us  is 
patriotism. 

"  Our  country  is  not  a  mere  concourse  of  persons  or  of 
families  inhabiting  the  same  soil,  having  amongst  them- 
selves relations,  more  or  less  intimate,  of  business,  of  neigh- 
borhood, of  a  community  of  memories,  happy  or  unhappy. 
Not  so;  it  is  an  association  of  living  souls,  subject  to  a 
social  organization  to  be  defended  and  safeguarded  at  all 


PATRIOTISM  117 

costs,  even  the  cost  of  blood,  under  the  leadership  of  those 
presiding  over  its  fortunes.  And  it  is  because  of  this  general 
spirit  that  the  people  of  a  country  live  a  common  life  in 
the  present,  through  the  past,  through  the  aspirations,  the 
hopes,  the  confidence  in  the  life  to  come,  which  they  share 
together.  Patriotism  an  internal  principle  of  order  and  of 
unity,  an  organic  bond  of  the  members  of  a  nation,  was 
placed  by  the  finest  thinkers  of  Greece  and  Rome  at  the 
head  of  the  natural  virtues.  Aristotle,  the  prince  of  philoso- 
phers of  antiquity,  held  disinterested  service  of  the  City  — 
that  is  the  State  —  to  be  the  very  ideal  of  human  duty. 
And  the  religion  of  Christ  makes  of  patriotism  a  positive 
law;  there  is  no  perfect  Christian  who  is  not  also  a  perfect 
patriot.  For  our  religion  exalts  the  antique  ideal,  showing 
it  to  be  realizable  only  in  the  Absolute.  Whence,  in  truth, 
comes  this  universal,  this  irresistible  impulse  which  carries 
at  once  the  will  of  the  whole  nation  in  one  single  effort  of 
cohesion  and  of  resistance  in  face  of  the  hostile  menace 
against  her  unity  and  her  freedom?  Whence  comes  it  that 
in  an  hour  all  interests  were  merged  in  the  interest  of  all, 
and  that  all  lives  were  together,  offered  in  willing  immola- 
tion? Not  that  the  State  is  worth  more  than  the  individual 
or  the  family,  seeing  that  the  good  of  the  family  and  of 
the  individual  is  the  cause  and  reason  of  the  organization 
of  the  State.  Not  that  our  country  is  a  Moloch  on  whose 
altar  lives  may  lawfully  be  sacrificed.  The  rigidity  of  ancient 
morals  and  the  despotism  of  the  Caesars  suggested  that  false 
principle  —  and  Modern  Militarism  tends  to  revive  it  —  that 
the  State  is  omnipotent,  and  that  the  discretionary  power 
of  the  State  is  the  rule  of  Eight.  Not  so,  replies  Christian 
theology.  Right  is  Peace,  that  is,  the  interior  order  of  a 
nation,  founded  upon  Justice.  And  Justice  itself  is  absolute 
only  because  it  formulates  the  essential  relation  of  man  with 
God  and  of  man  with  man.  Moreover,  war  for  the  sake  of 
war  is  a  crime.  War  is  justifiable  only  if  it  is  the  necessary 
means    for    securing   peace.     St.    Augustine    said :     *  Peace 


118  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

must  not  be  a  preparation  for  war.  And  war  is  not  to  be 
made  except  for  the  attainment  of  peace.'  In  the  light  of 
this  teaching,  which  is  repeated  by  St.  Thomas  Aquinas, 
patriotism  is  seen  in  its  religious  character.  Family  in- 
terests, class  interests,  party  interests,  and  the  material  good 
of  the  individual  take  their  place,  in  the  scale  of  values, 
below  the  ideal  of  patriotism,  for  that  ideal  is  Right,  which 
is  absolute.  Furthermore,  that  ideal  is  the  public  recognition 
of  Right  in  national  matters,  and  of  national  Honor.  Now 
there  is  no  Absolute  except  God.  God  alone  by  His  sanctity 
and  His  sovereignty,  dominates  all  human  interests  and 
human  wills.  And  to  afl&rm  the  absolute  necessity  of  the 
subordination  of  all  things  to  Right,  to  Justice,  to  Truth  is 
implicitly  to  affirm  God. 

"  When,  therefore,  humble  soldiers  whose  heroism  we  praise 
answer  us  with  characteristic  simplicity,  '  We  only  did  our 
duty,'  or  'We  were  bound  in  honor,'  they  express  the  re- 
ligious character  of  their  patriotism.  Which  of  tis  does  not 
feel  that  patriotism  is  a  sacred  thing,  and  that  a  violation  of 
national  dignity  is  in  a  manner  profanation  and  a  sacrilege  ?  " 
(Patriotism  and  Endurance,  Xmas,  1914-) 


TV 

THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER 

OE. 

THE  RED  FLAG 

OUR  well  beloved  Red,  White  and  Blue  is  the  sym- 
bol of  those  primary  attributes  of  justice  that, 
woven  into  the  warp  and  woof  of  our  country,  secure  to 
all  its  citizens  their  God-given  rights ;  Freedom  of  con- 
science and  of  worship;  equality  before  the  law;  pro- 
tection of  property.  Our  flag  symbolizes  —  not  indeed 
the  perfect  country  for  that  is  in  Heaven,  not  on  earth, 
but  the  best  that  man  has  produced  in  his  desire  to  es- 
tablish a  government  where  the  oppressed  of  the  earth 
shall  freely  make  their  home. 

"  Blest  with  victory  and  peace,  may  the  heaven-rescued  land 
Praise  the  Power  that  hath  made  and  preserved  us  a  nation. 
Then  conquer  we  must,  when  our  cause  it  is  just, 
And  this  be  our  motto,  '  In  God  is  our  trust/ 
And  the  star-spangled  banner  in  triumph  shall  wave 
O'er  the  land  of  the  free  and  the  home  of  the  brave." 

The  red  flag  symbolizes  a  revolt  against  God  as  the 
Author  of  men  and  of  nations.  It  definitely  repudiates 
the  authority  of  Caesar.  In  place  of  the  principle  of 
justice,  as  the  foundation  of  the  state,  it  floats  —  as 
the  basic  law  of  human  society  —  a  series  of  variable  no- 

119 


120  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

tions  amongst  men,  caused  by  the  changing  modes  of 
producing  wealth  for  profit,  and  the  consequent  changes 
in  economic  classes,  as  century  after  century  rolls  on. 
The  red  flag  symbolizes  the  power  of  an  irresistible  force 
—  the  irresponsible  power  that  brought  Capitalism  to 
this  age;  the  irresponsible  power  that  shall  bring  the 
proletariat  to  the  economic  throne  in  the  age  to  come. 

"  Then  raise  the  scarlet  standard  high 
Beneath  its  folds,  we'll  live  and  die. 
Though  cowards  flinch  and  traitors  sneer, 
We'll  keep  the  red  flag  flying  here." 

From  the  time  when  modern  Socialism  launched  its 
world-wide  campaign  upon  the  authority  of  the  Com- 
munist Manifesto,  the  followers  of  Marx  and  Engels 
have  vociferously  preached  the  base  notion  that  "  work- 
ingmen  have  no  country/'  From  that  day  to  this  the 
red  flag  has  been  the  arch  enemy  of  all  those  emblems 
that  stand  as  symbols  of  national  integrity  —  be  the  form 
of  government  despotic,  theocratic,  oligarchical  or  demo- 
cratic. The  task  of  the  workingmen  is  to  win  the  world 
for  their  country.  Why  not?  Since  these  puny  men 
have  wiped  God  out  of  His  world,  why  should  they  not 
undertake  the  lesser  task  of  razing  all  nations  to  the 
ground  and  of  planting  the  red  flag  over  the  universal 
ruin  of  what  was  once  the  nations  of  the  earth?  In- 
deed, it  is  easy  enough  to  justify  this  assault  against 
nations  by  the  tests  of  their  philosophy.  Man  is  not  to 
them  gifted  by  God  with  a  rational  nature.  No,  their 
irrational  assumption  is  that  the  rational  faculties  have 


THE  STAErSPANGLED  BANNER       121 

been  —  by  the  experiences  of  time,  super-added  to  the 
animal  faculties.  The  animal  faculties  being  the  "  nat- 
ural "  endowment.  If,  then,  one  is  so  irrational  and 
illogical  as  to  accept  this  theory  of  the  existence  of  the 
human  race,  one  may  insist  that  it  is  his  environment 
that  made  —  that  makes  —  man.  Furthermore,  if  one 
admits  that  rational  faculties  have  been  added  by  animal 
experiences  why  not  pile  unreason  on  unreason  and  con- 
ceive the  super-man  to  be  on  the  road  waving  the  red 
flag? 

It  was  in  France  (1848)  that  the  national  emblem 
—  the  tri-colored  banner  —  was  first  assailed  by  Social- 
ists: 

"Down  with  the  flag  of  kings!  of  crime. 
Hurrah  for  the  red  —  symbol  of  freedom !  " 

But  our  own  starry  banner  is  not  less  obnoxious  than 
the  banner  of  France  to  the  men  with  the  red  flag.  Eu- 
gene V.  Debs, —  than  whom  no  man,  in  John  Spargo's 
view,  has  done  nobler  service  "  to  keep  the  altar  fires  of 
Revolution  bright "  cries  out  — 

"All  hail  the  Labor  Day  of  May! 
Raise  high  this  day  the  blood-red  Standard  of  the  Revolu- 
tion! 
The  banner  of  the  Workingman ; 

The  flag,  the  only  flag  of  Freedom." 

(P.  305,  "Debs:    His  Life,  Writings  and  History.") 

When  taken  to  task  for  raising  aloft  the  red  flag  in- 
stead of  our  own  red,  white  and  blue  banner.  Socialists 
set  forth  internationalism  —  the  world-country  —  as  the 


122  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

meaning  of  their  symbol.  Forsooth!  Bed  is  their 
color  because  "  the  hlood  of  all  peoples  is  red,"  {"  Mod- 
em Socialism,"  C.  H.  Yail,  p.  13.)  Profound  indeed! 
Blood  is  red,  but  red  blood  is  not  a  distinctively  human 
characteristic  since  the  blood  of  the  brute  creation  is 
just  as  red  as  human  blood.  Yet,  this  assumed  reason 
is  quite  in  line  with  the  philosophy  that  knows  no  dis- 
tinct line  of  demarcation  between  the  human  and  the 
brute  creation,  for  Socialists  are  cock-sure  to  a  man  that 
they  are  merely  a  higher  form  of  animal  —  brother  to 
the  ape.  Yet,  since  science  knows  very  well  the  dif- 
ference between  the  blood  corpuscles  of  the  ape  and  the 
man;  this  popular  satisfaction  rests  upon  mere  igno- 
rance. Further  still,  since  the  "  missing  link "  has 
not  been  found  and  since  there  is  not  the  slightest  pros- 
pect that  it  shall  ever  be  found  this  assumption  that  sat- 
isfies a  multitude  of  men  rests  upon  something  other 
than  ignorance  —  there  is  a  species  of  ill  will  in  it. 
Here  is  the  core  of  the  matter  —  ill  will,  l^ow,  after 
these  seventy  years  of  propaganda  and  experiment,  the 
Bolshevikist  reign  of  terror  in  Eussia  shows  the  world 
what  in  fact  is  the  quality  of  the  power  that  is  sym- 
bolized by  the  red  flag.  Surely  it  manifests  destruc- 
tion upon  a  colossal  scale.  Indeed  no,  the  objection  to 
the  banner  of  these  modem  revolutionists  is  not  based 
upon  its  color.  To  encroach  upon  the  ground  of  the 
mystic,  it  is  because  red  in  the  hands  of  passion  signi- 
fies the  force  of  the  color;  red  in  the  hands  of  reason 
signifies  the  form  of  the  color.  The  form  of  red  is  fire 
under  rational  control;  the  force  of  the  red  being  fire 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER       123 

under  irrational  control.  One  fire  is  constructive,  the 
other  destructive.  To  put  it  into  the  vernacular,  we 
expect  little  of  the  man  who  "  sees  red."  The  red  flag 
in  the  hands  of  the  man  of  Morocco  would  be  a  demon- 
stration of  loyalty  to  their  country ;  in  the  hands  of  Har- 
vard men  the  red  flag  shows  love  for  their  Alma  Mater. 
So  it  is  that,  for  very  different  reasons,  we  may  say 
with  the  Editor  of  the  Class  Struggle  (N.  Y.  Dec. 
1918)  that 

"  The  fight  against  the  red  flag  is  —  not  merely  against 
a  symbol,  but  against  the  aggressive  and  revolutionary  char- 
acter of  our  movement." 

Precisely,  not  against  the  color  of  the  flag,  but  against 
the  intention  of  the  movement  to  float  their  symbol  over 
every  national  capitol  in  the  world  as  a  sign  of  Social- 
ism Victorious.  It  is  against  this  destructive  force  that 
our  quarrel  is  being  waged. 

Above  all  others  Daniel  De  Leon  may  be  trusted  to 
push  their  conclusions  to  the  limit,  for  he  holds  ever  in 
mind  the  organization  of  the  Catholic  Church  as  the 
model  per  contra  for  a  world-wide  Sociali&t  empire.  To 
be  sure,  De  Leon's  is  a  material  heaven  here  on  earth  and 
it  is  his  perverse  conviction  —  since  God  is  a  myth  — 
that  the  Catholic  Church  is  merely  a  man-made  political 
institution  with  the  purpose  of  ruling  from  Rome  the 
whole  world  in  the  interest  of  the  hierarchy.  De  Leon's 
flag,  he  is  pleased  to  believe,  is  the  extreme  opposite 
—  not  the  papal  flag  of  the  few  holding  in  slavery  the 
many,  but  the  red  flag  that  shall  lay  low  the  priests  and 


124  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

capitalists,  thus  bringing  spiritual  slaves  and  wage 
slaves  to  the  top  of  the  heap,  or  rather  as  the  vision 
scans  a  dead  level  there  vs^ould  be  no  top.  Meantime  De 
Leon  stages  the  probable  coming  to  grips  of  the  "  Red  " 
with  the  "White  and  Yellow."  We  quote  from  The 
Bed  Flag  and  the  White  and  Yellow  (produced  in  the 
Weekly  People  Feb.  13,  1913,  and  reproduced  March 
8th,  1919). 

"  There  have  been  now  and  anon  legislative  attempts  aimed 
at  the  exclusion  of  the  Red  Flag  from  public  displays  and 
processions. 

"  The  Red  Flag  makes  no  bones  of  its  purpose.  Its  purpose 
is  the  overthrow  of  the  existing  capitalist  order  of  society, 
and  the  substitution  of  the  same  with  the  Socialist  or  Indus- 
trial order. 

"  It  is  not  the  Red  Flag  of  Socialism  alone  that  is  to-day 
proclaiming  Revolution  in  the  land.  The  White  and  Yellow 
Flag  of  the  Ultramontane  Papal  Polity  is  doing  the  same 
thing. 

"  It  matters  not  to  the  Socialist  that  the  Papal-proposed 
Revolution  in  the  land  is  one  that  Socialism  will  oppose 
tooth  and  nail ;  it  matters  not  to  the  Socialist. 

"  Legislation  against  the  Red  Flag  savors,  accordingly,  of 
treason  to  the  Spirit  and  the  Letter  of  the  organic  law  of 
the  land;  hence,  of  treason  to  the  American  Flag  itself,  the 
folds  of  which  protect  whatever  amendment  to  the  Consti- 
tution, whether  'Red'  or  'White  and  Yellow.'" 

Poor  De  Leon!  What  a  courageous  spirit  gone 
wrong.  Of  that  race  who  wander  over  the  face  of  the 
earth  without  a  country  because  they  could  not  and 
would  not  distinguish  between  the  Ruler  of  the  King- 


THE  STAErSPANGLED  BANKER       125 

dom  of  Heaven  when  He  came  to  earth  in  fulfihnent  of 
His  promise  to  the  Jews,  and  the  national  kingdom  over 
which  Csesar  then  reigned.  De  Leon  was  a  most  aggres- 
sive foe  of  the  Church  of  Christ.  Throughout  his  long 
career  he  persisted  in  ignoring  the  Cross  of  Christ  as 
the  symbol  of  the  Universal  Church  —  seeing  only  the 
White  and  Yellow  symbol  of  the  Pope's  jurisdiction  over 
that  piece  of  territory  where  the  government  of  Christ's 
Church  carries  out  the  Command :  — "  Go  and  teach  ye 
all  nations;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatso- 
ever I  have  commanded  you."  As  Washington,  D.  C,  is 
the  seat  of  the  Federal  Government  of  these  United 
States  so  is  the  Papal  flag  the  emblem  that  locates  the 
territory  from  which  those  individuals  throughout  the 
world  are  governed  who  acknowledge  the  authority  of 
the  Pope  in  matters  of  faith  and  morals.  It  is  no  mere 
accident  that  Marx,  Engels,  De  Leon,  Berger,  Hillquit 
and  Trotsky  —  men  without  a  country  —  should  be 
leaders  in  propagating  internationalism,  since  interna- 
tionalism is  intended  to  destroy  nations.  Moreover,  it 
was  in  this  country,  under  De  Leon  as  the  master  mind, 
that  leaders  of  the  Bolsheviki  of  Russia  were  trained. 
That  our  free  country  offered  the  greatest  license  in 
propagating  treason  is  not  a  mere  accident.  Our  lead- 
ing citizens  have  long  since  harrowed  the  soil  of  dis- 
loyalty —  all  unwittingly  no  doubt.  Cities  have  erected 
monuments  to  those  who  offensively  boast  —  The  World 
is  my  country.  This  is  now  the  cry  of  the  rebellion 
against  all  government  —  the  cry  of  the  man  who  would 
have  murdered  the  French  premier, —  Clemenceau. 


126  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Because  the  reasoning  of  Socialism  is  never  upon  the 
solid  ground  of  God  first,  ourselves  next,  and  all  things 
else  third,  its  imagery  is  ever  lacking  in  balanced  pro- 
portion —  in  common  sense. 

"  There  are  many  men  and  women  to-day  who  are  earnestly 
and  fervently  patriotic  in  the  bourgeois  sense.  '  The  Star 
Spangled  Banner'  makes  them  thrill  with  emotion.  They 
will  shed  tears  over  the  story  of  the  true-hearted  lad  who  left 
his  sweetheart  to  obey  his  country's  call,  and  died  while  try- 
ing to  save  the  colors.  Every  Socialist  knows  that  all  these 
stories  and  songs  are  some  of  the  means  that  the  ruling  class 
uses  to  cultivate  a  feeling  of  national  patriotism,  and  that 
so  long  as  such  a  feeling  exists  among  many  people  their 
supremacy  is  safe. 

"  In  the  Socialist  school  a  feeling  of  international  patriot- 
ism will  be  aroused.  The  children  will  be  made  to  feel  that 
the  workingmen  of  all  nations  are  brothers.  They  have  a 
common  enemy  —  capitalism.  They  have  a  common  aim  — 
its  overthrow."     (N.  Y.  Worher,  March  7,  1908.) 

So  it  is  that  the  red  flag  — "  international  patriot- 
ism " —  seeks  to  sv^allow  up  the  Star-Spangled  Banner 
— "  national  patriotism."  Yet,  since  "  national  patriot- 
ism "  is  the  only  kind  of  patriotism  there  is  in  the 
world  —  the  standard  by  v^hich  we  love  another  country 
like  unto  our  ov^n  —  and  since  "  international  patriot- 
ism "  means  nothing  at  all  save  a  base  counterfeit  of  the 
love  of  the  Cross  of  Christ,  it  is  necessary  sharply  to  dis- 
tinguish religion  from  patriotism. 

Embraced  within  the  love  of  God  is  love  of  country, 
but  with  God  left  out,  love  of  country  has  no  com- 
pelling force.     Patriotism  is  in  its   essence  national, 


THE  STAE-SPANGLED  BANNER       127 

hence  the  man  who  chooses  the  world  for  his  country  has 
no  country,  therefore,  he  is  lacking  the  standards  by 
which  to  love  any  country.  For  since  God  is  the  Au- 
thor of  nations  a  man  under  God's  authority  must  love 
another  nation  like  unto  the  love  he  gives  his  own  and  it 
goes  without  saying  that  his  country  like  his  life  is  his 
own.  If  his  country  is  not  defended,  it  is  proof  that 
he  loves  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.  But  a  man's  love 
for  his  own  and  other  countries  does  not  wipe  out  the 
fact  of  other  nations  any  more  than  it  wipes  out  the  in- 
dividuality of  our  neighbor  because  we  are  commanded 
to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourselves.  This,  however,  is 
what  Socialist  philosophy  attempts  to  do.  Their  "  so- 
cial organism  "  means  a  crawling,  sprawling  humanity 
in  which  the  individual  soul,  in  the  image  of  his  Maker, 
is  not  reckoned  with. —  This  is  their  essential  denial  of 
immortality. 

Now  that  —  which  is  above,  beyond,  around  and  be- 
neath the  love  of  a  man  for  his  flag  is  rightly  symbolized 
by  the  Cross  of  Christ.  But  the  followers  of  Christ  are 
men  and  women  with  individual  souls,  since  neither  fam- 
ilies nor  nations  are  members  of  the  Church  suffering, 
the  Church  militant,  the  Church  triumphant.  But, 
while  the  person  is  the  unit  under  the  Cross  of  Christ  — 
the  banner  of  God  —  the  family  is  the  unit  under  the 
Red,  White  and  Blue.  Religion  is  by  Socialism  clev- 
erly counterfeited.  Having  denied  the  individual  soul, 
it  would  wipe  out  families  and  nations  together  with 
private  property  and  it  is  this  bizarre  vision  of  the  world, 
as  a  herd  of  tool-using  animals  that  prompts  the  imagery 


128  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

that  is  stimulated  at  the  sight  of  the  red  flag.  They 
see  red  when  "  international  patriotism "  is  contem- 
plated, for  therein  is  neither  religion  nor  patriotism ;  the 
one  spiritual,  the  other  moral,  has  no  place  in  their  ma- 
terialistic scheme. 

We  hold  no  brief  for  the  defense  of  "  capitalism " 
when  the  term  connotes  the  grinding  of  the  face  of  the 
poor  —  the  using  of  public  power  for  private  gain  and 
glory.  We  shall  do  what  we  can  to  put  under  the  Red, 
White  and  Blue  those  practises  that  Pope  Leo  has 
named  Christian  Democracy.  But,  all  may  be  sure 
that  "  Revenge  is  mine,  I  will  repay  saith  the  Lord  " 
and  that  He  will  reward  and  punish  according  to  exact 
justice.  Meantime,  we  rejoice  greatly  that  love  and 
obedience  to  our  flag  is  being  strengthened  by  the  fer- 
vent emotion  that  wells  up  in  the  heart  at  hearing  of  gal- 
lant deeds  and  of  noble  sacrifice.  Ah !  to  see  our  coun- 
try's flag  afloat  in  a  foreign  land!  How  it  makes  the 
tears  of  joy  to  flow. 

The  Czar  of  the  Milwaukee  movement  can  at  all  times 
be  found  with  the  anti-patriots.  Any  insult  to  the 
American  flag  is  justified :  When  Clarence  S.  Darrow 
—  a  lawyer  of  the  Tolstoyian  —  anarchistic  type  — 
was  denounced  in  the  public  press  for  his  refusal  to  rise 
when  the  band  played  the  Star-Spangled  Banner,  in  one 
of  the  leading  hotels  in  Seattle,  it  was  Victor  Berger  who 
upheld  the  affront,  in  a  signed  editorial: 

"  The  flag  fetish  is  silly  when  it  is  not  hypocritical. 
And  it  is  hypocritical  when  it  is  not  silly. 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER       129 

"I  would  personally  just  as  soon  get  up  when  the  band 
plays  '  Hiawatha '  or  *  Hail,  Hail,  the  Gang's  all  Here '  as  for 
'  The  Star  Spangled  Banner.'  *  Hiawatha '  stands  for  a  good 
time,  '  The  Star-Spangled  Banner '  stood  for  Hell  in  Colo- 
rado and  stands  for  the  same  in  Pennsylvania  and  other 
places." 

Like  outrages  with  the  intent  to  wound  and  injure 
the  patriotic  spirit  are  not  uncommon  and  they  are  fre- 
quently violently  crass.  A  mild  sensation  was  sprung 
in  labor  circles  when  the  President  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  was 
charged  with  having  addressed  a  meeting  while  standing 
on  the  flag.  Mr.  Gompers  defended  himself.  He  de- 
clared his  respect  and  honor  for  our  national  emblem 
and  explained  that  the  flag  was  draped  around  not  across 
the  table  on  which  he  stood.  This  occasion  was  made 
much  of  in  the  New  York  Call  (Feb.  10,  1912).  We 
present  the  last  half  of  an  article  under  the  caption 
''  Respect  the  Uniform;  Honor  the  Flag  "  (italics  ours). 

" '  At  least  honor  the  flag ! '  they  cry  in  desperation. 
*  Honor  the  flag  which  stands  for  freedom,  equality  and  fra- 
ternity ! ' 

"  yfhat  iiagf  The  American  flag?  The  Stars  and  Stripes? 
The  flag  which  floats  over  every  hell  hole  of  mine  and  mill 
and  prison?  The  flag  which  floats  over  station  house  and 
barracks  whence  issue  police  and  soldiers  to  hatter  down  and 
murder  workers  exercising  their  constitutional  rights  of  free 
speech  and  free  assemblage?  Honor  the  flag  which  you  our 
masters,  have  changed  from  a  flag  of  liberty  into  a  symbol 
of  the  crudest  exploitation  and  vilest  oppression  of  the  new 
civilization? 

"  If  I  had  been  Samuel  Gompers  when  he  was  reproached 
by  the  capitalists  for  placing  his  foot  on  the  American  flag, 
I  should  have  answered: 


130  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

"'Yes,  I  TRAMPLED  ON  IT,  and,  more  than  that  i  spit 
UPON  YOUR  FLAG,  not  mine.  I  loathe  the  Stars  and  Stripes, 
once  the  symbol  of  liberty  for  all,  but  now  the  stripes  repre- 
sent the  bloody  stripes  left  by  your  lash  on  the  back  of  the 
worker,  and  the  stars  the  bullet  and  bayonet  wounds  in  his 
breast,    to  hell  with  your  flag  ! ' 

"  There  is  and  can  be  but  one  flag  for  which  an  intelligent 
working  man  can  have  any  respect,  the  flag  of  humanity, 
the  red  flag  of  the  working-class.  It  stands  for  justice,  for 
equality  of  opportunity,  for  the  abolition  of  war,  the  end  of 
oppression  and  exploitation,  for  carefree  childhood,  for  glo- 
rious, unfettered  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  for  honored 
and  protected  old  age. 

"  When  the  red  flag  flies  above  our  homes  and  our  nations, 
we  shall  honor  it  and  love  it.  But,  until  it  does  we  refuse 
to  recognize  or  respect  any  flag  which  is  merely  the  symbol  of 
and  protects  some  national  section  of  international  capital- 
ism, down  with  the  scars  and  stripes!  run  up  the  red 
flag  of  humanity  !  " 

The  lady-reds  seem  to  see  red  redder  than  the  mere 
man-reds.  We  have  before  us  Rose  Pastor  Stokes'  de- 
fense of  the  revolutionary  emblem.  While,  indeed,  it 
makes  the  conventional  radical  argument  that  the  red 
flag  is  red  because  its  red  color  testifies  to  the  common 
red  blood  of  humanity  —  and  so,  of  course,  in  Socialist 
thought,  the  red  blood  of  the  man  and  the  brute  mingle 
in  a  common  brotherhood  —  the  red  of  Mrs.  Stokes' 
language  gives  out  a  most  destructive  fire.  However,  it 
is  quite  the  tendency  of  the  lady-reds  to  run  into  poetry 
when  their  fiag  is  reprobated.  On  the  occasion  when  in 
the  Great  and  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  a  ban  was 
placed  on  the  Socialist  banner  The  Women's  Day  Edi- 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER       131 

Hon  of  the  N.  Y.  Call  (Feb.  28,  1915)  was  inspired  to 
"  come  back  "  with  a  piece  of  vice  printed  in  the  fierce 
garb  of  what  should  be  the  form  of  poetry.  The  pen  of 
Katherine  Richmond  sets  down  eight  stanzas.  We  pre- 
sent the  last: 

"  And  on  Massachusetts'  priest-damned  shore. 

Where  the  Red  Flag  is  denied. 
When  Liberty's  clarion  call  is  heard 

The  rulers  are  defied; 
And  in  the  fights  for  freedom. 

Which  by  rebel  slaves  is  led. 
In  the  hearts  of  the  brave  and  dauntless 

Bums  bright  the  Flag  of  Bed." 

Should  it  not  give  pause  to  many  a  candid  mind  upon 
learning  that  the  red  enemy  of  our  fatherland  is  the 
red  red  enemy  of  our  faith  ?  Both  are  struck  at  once. 
Back  of  the  ordered  freedom  of  our  fatherland  is  the 
faith  that  holds  to  the  Rock  of  Ages.  Yet,  should  it 
not  give  one  courage  to  realize  that  so  long  as  men  enough 
acknowledge  the  moral  law  to  be  the  foundation  of  all 
just  government;  so  long  as  men  enough  acknowledge 
God  as  the  Author  of  the  Ten  Commandments  just  so 
long  shall  Columbia's  flag  wave  over  a  free  and  mighty 
people  whom  Socialism  is  powerless  to  corrupt  ? 

Indeed,  it  is  an  especial  compliment  —  aye  an  especial 
call  —  to  Catholics  that  they  should  bear  the  brunt  of 
the  attack.  No,  not  as  capitalists,  nor  as  a  "  police  force 
for  the  capitalist  class,"  but  as  the  stoutest  defenders  of 
God's  authority  in  all  the  world.  Eor  it  is  true  that 
Pope  and  people  —  one  and  all  —  reprobate  the  red  flag 


132  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

of  disorder  —  of  rebellion  —  of  "  The  Ee volution." 
No  fear  of  the  curse  of  the  red  flag  ladies !  It  will  not 
avail  to  blast  the  faith  of  the  good  priests  nor  to  blast  the 
rockbound  coast  of  the  Old  Bay  State.  Here  the 
Church  blossoms  like  a  rose  under  the  vigilant  care  of 
our  well  beloved  Cardinal  Archbishop.  And,  many  a 
man  not  bom  in  the  faith  comes  to  that  Prince  of  the 
Church  —  William  Cardinal  O'Connell  —  for  the  ade- 
quate explanation  of  the  phenomenon  — "  An  All-Eed 
Russia." 

Louise  Bryant  (Six  Months  in  Russia)  tells  of  a  day 
when  Russia  was  reddest.  The  occasion  was  the  burial 
of  a  man  like  a  dog. —  The  "  Red  Burial  "  in  Moscow. 
The  "  Red  Square  "  was  hung  in  red.  Great  red  ban- 
ners were  flung  to  the  breeze  with  "  inscriptions  about 
the  revolution."  Nothing  but  good  red  revolutionary 
blood  coursed  through  the  veins  of  the  workmen  and 
peasants  there  present.  The  bourgeoisie  and  the  aristo- 
crats were  absent  —  murdered  or  in  hiding.  Ah,  it  was 
glorious!  The  fate  of  the  empire  in  the  hands  of  the 
red  revolutionists !  *'  All  the  churches  and  all  the 
shrines  were  closed.  How  impressive  it  was !  No  cere- 
mony, no  priests;  everything  so  simple  and  so  real." 

The  lady  reds  are  rather  chronic  press  letter  writers. 
The  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  some  time  since,  gave  them 
occasion  to  "  strike  back  "  because  of  his  denunciation  of 
the  red  flag  in  an  address  delivered  at  Seattle,  Washing- 
ton. From  all  over  the  country  came  letters  of  protest. 
We  comment  upon  one  of  these  open  letters  for  two 
reasons,  first  to  show  that  the  red  flag  has  replaced  the 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER       133 

Cross  of  Christ  as  the  symbol  of  their  hope  and  again 
to  note  the  persistency  with  which  those  of  radical  cul- 
ture use,  falsely,  a  quotation  from  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica.  Mrs.  Charles  Edward  Russell  (Chicago, 
Aug.  2,  1913)  whose  husband  upholds  the  red  flag  in 
Russia  as  "  the  universal  bond  —  of  world-wide  hope  " 
deprecates  the  "  peculiar  inappropriateness  in  denounc- 
ing an  emblem  of  Christianity  "  which  the  red  flag  is  by 
inference  said  to  be.  The  Hon.  Josephus  Daniels  is  re- 
ferred to 

"  The  Encyclopedia  Brittanica  in  an  article  on  Socialism 
you  will  find  this  statement :  *  The  ethics  of  Socialism  are 
closely  akin  to,  if  not  identical  with,  the  ethics  of  Christian- 
ity.' 

"  Consequently  there  is  a  peculiar  inappropriateness  in  de- 
nouncing an  emblem  of  Christianity  before  an  organization 
such  as  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association." 

If,  however,  our  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  or  any  one 
of  the  Socialists,  should  take  the  trouble  to  look  up  the 
reference  he  could  not  but  find  that  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica  is  not  the  authority  for  the  quotation  that 
Mrs.  Russell  employs,  namely  "  The  ethics  of  Socialism 
are  closely  akin  to,  if  not  identical  with  the  ethics  of 
Christianity."  Yet,  because  their  propaganda  has  so 
frequently,  during  the  past  thirty  years,  used  this  quota- 
tion apart  from  its  proper  setting,  there  is  no  doubt  that 
many  "  slave  minds "  who  camp  together  with  their 
"  class  conscious  "  comrades  really  believe  that  the  Bri- 
tannica gives  its  sanction  to  this  making  of  black  white. 
Thus  confidence  in  what  is  not  so  rings  these  changes 


134  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

innocently ;  others  for  tactical  reasons.  However,  there 
are  Socialists  who  repudiate  and  reprobate  the  notion 
that  the  red  flag  and  the  Cross  of  Christ  symbolize  ethics 
that  are  "  akin  or  identical."  Desiring  an  interna- 
tional authority  one  may  consult  the  Commonweal 
(London,  Vol.  4,  N^o.  116)  on  the  matter;  the  Editor 
of  the  Comrade  (N.  Y.  May,  1903)  states  the  case 
plainly :  "  We  do  not  in  most  cases  believe  it.  We 
repeat  it  because  it  appeals  to  the  slave  mind  of  the 
world.  The  very  basis  of  Christianity  is  a  denial  of  the 
basic  principles  of  Socialism,."  "  Socialism  Christian- 
ized would  be  Socialism  emasculated  and  destroyed." 
Of  course,  the  "  slave  mind  "  is  the  mind  that  rests  se- 
curely upon  reason  enforced  and  enlightened  by  reve- 
lation. In  a  word  natural  revelation  and  supernatural 
revelation  controls  the  Christian  mind,  holds  it  to  law 
and  order.  Erom  this  combination  of  life  and  light 
comes  the  sage  and  the  seer. 

Indeed,  we  are  not  defenders  of  the  Encyclopedia 
Britannica.  On  the  contrary  we  are  well  aware  that  its 
too  frequent  perversion  of  Catholic  principles  and  his- 
tory make  it  an  unreliable  guide  on  things  Christian. 
Yet,  its  statement  relative  to  the  content  of  the  Socialist 
propaganda  is  quite  to  the  issue.  There  is  a  little 
fringe  of  folk,  at  the  outskirts  of  the  movement  who  still 
cling  sentimentally  to  Christian  precepts,  without  being 
aware  of  the  logic  of  its  doctrine ;  while  the  multitude  of 
its  followers  are  controlled  in  their  thought  by  the  lead- 
ers who  insist  upon  the  frankest  and  most  outspoken 
materialistic  conception  of  history. 


THE  STAK-SP ANGLED  BANKER       135 

We  submit  that  the  quotation  in  full  will  not  permit 
Mrs.  Eussell  to  run  up  the  red  flag  as  anything  like  a 
fair  substitute  for  the  Cross  of  Christ : 

"It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  theories  of  socialism  have 
been  held  in  connection  with  the  most  varying  opinions  in 
philosophy  and  religion.  A  great  deal  of  the  historic  social- 
ism has  been  regarded  as  a  necessary  implicate  of  idealism. 
Most  of  the  prevailing  socialism  of  the  day  is  based  on  the 
frankest  and  most  outspoken  revolutionary  materialism.  On 
the  other  hand,  many  socialists  hold  that  their  system  is  a 
necessary  outcome  of  Christianity,  that  socialism  and  Chris- 
tianity are  essential  the  one  to  the  other;  and  it  should  be 
said  that  the  ethics  of  socialism  are  closely  akin  to  the  ethics 
of  Christianity,  if  not  identical  with  them."  (Page  206,  Vol. 
22,  9th  Edition  Encly.  Britannica.) 

We  know  only  too  well  many  persons  void  of  the 
Living  Faith  —  who,  distraught  because  the  world,  the 
flesh  and  the  devil  seem  to  them  to  be  in  almost  complete 
control  of  the  body-politic,  clutch  at  the  red  flag  as  the 
symbol  of  hope.  Yet,  there  is  no  use  of  going  the  wrong 
way  for  the  right  thing.  Nor  is  there  any  wisdom  in 
letting  the  pest  of  Socialism  run  its  course  to  the  end 
when  the  cure  is  in  the  Cross  of  Christ.  But  the  evi- 
dence shows  that  the  red  flag  is  still  in  its  ascendant. 
Mr.  Albert  Rhys  Williams  —  a  sometime  Congrega- 
tional minister,  now  authorized  agent  of  Lenin-Trotsky 
"  to  manage  the  Bolsheviki  bureau  of  information  in  the 
United  States  " —  when  appearing  before  the  Senate 
Committee  investigating  this  propaganda  Mr.  Williams 
was  questioned  about  the  red  flag  by  Senator  Overman 


136  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUHE 

(Feb.  21,  1919).     His  jaunty  answer  was:     ''It  ex- 
cites some  people. 

"  If  you  suppress  it,  they  will  find  some  other  symbol.  In 
Germany  they  suppressed  the  red  flag  and  so  they  adopted  the 
red  flower  and  all  the  Socialist  women  began  to  wear  red  pet- 
ticoats and  they  held  up  a  few  inches  of  the  outer  skirt  so 
everybody  could  see  the  color  of  the  petticoat.  I  think  there 
is  entirely  too  much  hullabaloo  about  the  red  flag." 

No  doubt,  the  suppression  of  the  symbol  by  a  mere 
force  leads  to  a  still  more  determined  effort  to  float  the 
red  flag  over  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  But  is  there  no  hope 
since  the  suppression  of  their  symbol  leads  to  still  more 
determined  perversity  to  establish  internationalism  on 
the  ruins  of  nations  —  the  one  following  the  other  in 
rapid  cycles  ?  Yes,  undoubtedly,  there  is,  namely  —  a 
readjustment  of  our  national  affairs  —  political,  eco- 
nomic, domestic  and  social  —  upon  the  principles  laid 
down  by  the  foimders  of  our  government.  Here  is  the 
necessity  for  instruction  in  ethics  and  morals  —  we 
must  think  straight  and  act  straight  if  we  desire  the 
blessings  of  the  commonwealth.  But  primarily,  the 
education  of  ethics  and  morals  is  the  office  of  the  Church 
— "  Going,  therefore,  teach  ye  all  nations,  teaching  them 
all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  Then 
it  comes  to  this :  The  rank  and  file  of  the  red  flag  fol- 
lowers are  like  unto  the  little  children  of  the  poor  who 
are  ground  down  by  the  ricb  —  more  sinned  against 
than  sinning.  Their  leaders  know  what  they  do,  not 
so  with  the  rabble.  Our  Blessed  Lord  prayed :  "  Fa- 
ther,  forgive  them  for  they  Tcnow  not  what  they  do." 


THE  STAK-SP ANGLED  BANl^ER       137 

How  is  it,  then,  if  our  country  would  rid  us  of  propa- 
ganda under  the  red  flag,  that  our  nationally  accredited 
agents  —  John  Spargo,  A.  M.  Simons,  Louis  Kopelin, 
Charles  Edward  Russell  and  Alexander  Howat  —  the 
Socialist  Commission  to  Europe,  may  receive  from  Sec- 
retary of  State  Lansing  commendation  ?  "  You  have 
done  a  great  service  not  only  to  your  country,  but  to  hu- 
manity."— "  The  Mission  took  part  in  the  presentation 
of  a  red  flag  to  General  Garibaldi,  the  grandson  of  the 
revolutionist,  by  the  Trieste  Socialists,  now  in  Paris." 
(The  New  Appeal,  Oct.  5,  1918.) 

Children  Cast  Off  the  American  Flag 

The  evil  effect  of  the  Red  Flag  propaganda  has  de- 
scended from  their  fathers  and  mothers  upon  the  school 
children.  In  proof  we  shall  cite  but  two  of  the  many 
instances  that  our  data  recounts. 

"  Oscar  Whiting,  ten  years  old,  a  pupil  in  the  Reed  public 
school,  Camden,  N.  J.,  was  suspended  because  he  refused  to 
salute  the  American  flag. 

"  It  seems  the  lad  has  failed  to  salute  the  flag  since  the 
opening  of  school,  the  teachers  failing  to  observe  the  infrac- 
tion of  the  rules.  His  detection  was  due  to  an  indignation 
meeting  of  the  other  pupils.  The  pupils  reported  the  matter 
to  Miss  Holl  and  she  asked  the  boy  why  he  had  not  saluted 
the  colors. 

"  *  My  parents  are  Socialists,'  he  replied, '  and  have  told  me 
not  to  salute  the  flag.' 

"'Why  not?'  Miss  Holl  asked. 

" '  I  don't  know,'  the  youth  said.  '  They  told  me  not  to  take 
my  hat  off  to  a  flag  unless  it  was  all  red.' 


138  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUHE 

"  The  boy  was  sent  home.  At  the  noon  hour  he  returned 
accompanied  by  his  mother.  She  demanded  that  Miss  Holl 
admit  the  lad,  but  the  principal  refused.  The  mother  became 
so  insistent  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  teacher  to  call  a 
policeman."     (The  Live  Issue,  Vol.  1,  No.  37,  N.  Y.) 

The  open  rebellion  of  a  thirteen  year  old  girl  was 
proudly  sent  broadcast  by  the  Radical  Review  (N.  Y., 
July,  1918).  The  incident  took  place  in  the  public 
schools  of  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  It  was  required  that 
the  pupils  should  salute  our  flag  and  recite : 

"I  pledge  allegiance  to  my  flag  and  to  the  republic  for 
which  it  stands.  One  nation  indivisible,  with  liberty  and  jus- 
tice for  all." 

This  Lena  Eyler  refused  to  do.  In  answer  to  the  in- 
quiry of  the  principal  of  the  Franklin  Grammar  School, 
the  girl  cast  off  the  American  flag  and  defended  the  red 
flag. 

"  I  owe  nothing  to  the  American  flag.  It  no  longer  stands 
for  the  noble  principles  in  which  it  was  conceived.  If  I  must 
salute  a  flag  it  will  be  the  red  flag  of  Socialism  because  I 
think  it  stands  more  truly  for  liberty  and  justice  than  the 
Stars  and  Stripes." 

The  writer  goes  on  to  say : 

"What  the  bourgeois  school  of  Salt  Lake  City  deprives 
Lena  Eyler  of  Socialist  tuition  must  substitute.  The  scepter 
of  Education  is  passing  from  the  Bourgeois  to  the  Proletariat. 
The  pure  flame  that  bums  in  that  child's  breast  must  not  be 
suffered  to  consume  itself.  Fanned  with  the  fan  of  So- 
cialist fulness  of  information,  that  flame  is  rising,  lambent 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land." 


THE  STAK-SPANGLED  BANNER       139 

Surely,  were  the  scepter  of  education  with  "  Socialist 
fulness  "  in  the  hands  of  a  Godless  school  system  our 
Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  at  hand.  But  is  it  not  the 
handwriting  on  the  wall  that  Socialism  is  informing  the 
world  of  its  intention  to  make  all  education  Godless  un- 
der their  banner  of  savage  blood  red  ? 

Innocence  and  Guilt 

It  is  true  that  every  man  is  at  once  innocent  and 
guilty  —  since  a  man  is  a  liar  if  he  says  he  is  not  a 
sinner.  Yet,  there  is  a  vast  —  an  impassable  —  gulf 
between  those  who  love  God  and  fear  Him  and  those 
who  deny  God  and  deny  sin.  The  very  creed  of  Social- 
ism forbids  the  love  of  God  and  the  fear  of  God. —  God 
has  no  existence  in  their  dogmas,  the  Ten  Command- 
ments were  fit  only  for  the  servile  infancy  of  the  race. 
It  is  only  by  holding  in  mind  this  underlying  premise  of 
their  movement  that  an  intelligent  view  of  their  protes- 
tations of  the  superiority  of  their  intentions  over  the  pur- 
poses of  men  who  are  indeed  guilty  of  extortion  and 
usurpation  can  be  seen.  When  Socialists  boast  of  be- 
ing "  open  and  honest "  they  express  that  desperate 
courage  that  is  like  to  the  fight  of  the  rat  in  the  comer. 
Socialists  make  one  —  but  one  —  use  of  Christian  prin- 
ciples,—  they  serve  mightily  for  the  condemnation  and 
the  confusion  of  others.  As  for  using  Christian  prin- 
ciples in  the  search  for  their  own  sins !  —  perish  the 
thought,  there  is  no  God.  This  being  so  —  we  shall  set 
forth  their  purpose  to  supplant  the  cross  of  Christ  with 
the  red  flag  and  of  taking  possession  of  the  nations  of 


140  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  earth  under  the  sign  of  the  red  flag.  May-Day  — 
our  Blessed  Mother's  Day  —  is  their  time  for  grandiose 
declamation. 

In  the  May-Day  issue  of  the  Chicago  Daily  Socialist 
(1912)  Morris  Hillquit  delivers  himself  in  a  signed 
editorial. 

"Friday,  the  militant  hosts  of  Socialism  and  labor  will 
march  in  proud  procession  to  the  inspiring  tune  of  the 
*  Marseillaise '  or  the  '  Internationale,'  carrying  the  defiant 
emblem  of  their  hopes  and  their  challenge  —  the  red  flag  of 
Socialism. 

"  As  Usual  also  a  savage  howl  of  mingled  rage  and  fear  will 
go  up  from  the  capitalist  press,  the  capitalist  pulpit  and  the 
capitalist  government.  The  parasites  of  all  nations  have  a 
morbid  aversion  to  the  red  color.  Their  guilty  conscience  in- 
terprets it  as  a  symbol  of  carnage  and  bloodshed. 

"  We  Socialists  glory  in  the  red  flag  as  the  symbol  of  kin- 
ship of  all  that  bears  human  countenance;  we  revere  it  as  an 
augury  of  world-wide  peace,  harmony  and  brotherhood,  we 
cling  to  it  as  the  inspiring  standard  in  the  great  international 
fight  against  corruption,  exploitation  and  oppression.  We  are 
proud  of  the  red  flag.     Our  allegiance  to  it  is  open  and  honest. 

"  But  how  about  you,  apologists  of  the  existing  system  ? 
You,  who  taunt  us  with  our  flag  and  flaunt  into  our  faces  the 
Stars  and  Stripes?  What  claim  do  you  have  to  the  emblem 
of  American  independence,  democracy  and  justice  ? 

"  The  Stars  and  Stripes  are  not  YOUR  emblem !  You 
have  long  pawned  the  stars  to  the  trusts  and  monopolies  and 
your  stripes  for  the  stripes  of  the  prison  garb.  Your  true 
emblem  is  the  black  flag  of  the  pirate. 

"  Since  the  fight  of  Socialism  is  a  fight  to  re-establish 
equality,  democracy  and  social  justice  in  this  country,  the 
Socialists  alone  uphold  the  true  purity  and  honor  of  the 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNER       141 

Stars  and  Stripes.  Since  the  fight  of  Socialism  is  at  the 
same  time  a  fight  for  the  entire  human  race,  the  red  flag 
supplements  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  When  Socialism  will 
win  its  battles,  both  emblems  will  flutter  together  from  all 
huts  and  palaces,  gaily  proclaiming  in  their  multiform  colors 
that  mankind  is  free." 

Let  us  discriminate :  —  When  the  term  "  parasite  " 
is  used  to  express  the  acts  of  those  men  who  are  respon- 
sible for  political  and  economic  abuses,  we  accept  it  as 
fitting.  So,  too,  when  the  term  "  existing  system  "  is 
used  to  denote  those  trusts  and  monopolies  that  flourish 
as  the  wicked  on  earth,  we  accept  it  as  fitting.  But  when 
the  word  parasite  is  used  by  Socialists,  the  term  is  so 
all-embracing  as  to  leave  nobody  in  the  country  with  a 
decent  regard  for  the  economic  and  political  rights  of 
others, —  neither  is  there  left  a  great  body  of  men  who 
loyally  stand  for  their  country  and  their  God.  These 
are  they  who  defend  our  country  with  their  strength, 
their  life  and  their  money.  These  are  they  to  whom  the 
Most  Reverend  Patrick  J.  Hayes,  D.  D.,  Archbishop 
of  New  York,  at  Solemn  Military  Mass,  Battery  Park  — 
Memorial  Hay,  1918  —  addressed  these  words: 

"  Here  to  this  very  ground,  the  gateway  of  America,  seek- 
ing a  haven  of  refuge,  a  land  of  opportunity,  have  come 
legions  of  immigrants.  America  looked  out  upon  the  At- 
lantic, with  a  cry  of  welcome  to  all,  saying  '  Enter  ye  in.' 
To-day  she  stands  on  this  same  consecrated  ground  and 
bids  these  new  sons  of  hers,  many,  sons  by  adoption,  to  go 
forth  across  the  waters  over  which  your  forefathers  or 
yourselves  have  ventured  and  not  to  return  until  you  have 
planted  the  glorious  Stars  and  Stripes  upon  the  citadel  of 


142  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

darkness  that  liberty  and  civilization  may  not  perish  from 
the  earth." 

'No,  not  for  these  —  priest  and  people  —  is  it  a 
"  guilty  "  conscience,  but  rather  it  is  history  and  ex- 
perience that  forbids  them  to  conclude  that  "  carnage 
and  bloodshed "  is  what  our  flag  symbolizes.  They 
know  that  the  red  flag  symbolizes  desecration  of  re- 
ligion, degradation  of  the  family,  confiscation  of  prop- 
erty, murder  and  rapine  together  with  the  overthrow  of 
government.  It  were  as  sensible  to  expect  the  lion  and 
the  lamb  to  lie  down  together  in  peace, —  that  the  as- 
sassin and  his  victim  will  dwell  together  in  love,  as  to 
expect  the  Red  flag  and  Old  Glory  to  flutter  in  har- 
monious union. 

All !  But  the  hypocrisy  of  the  mental  picture  of  the 
red  flag  supplementing  the  Stars  and  Stripes!  Is  not 
the  Stars  and  Stripes  the  full  orbed  sum  of  human  lib- 
erty —  the  promise  of  social  prosperity  and  security  if 
we  will  but  work  it  out?  We  know  that  it  was  not  to 
"  supplement "  the  tri-color  of  France  that  the  red  flag 
was  raised  aloft  by  the  Commune  of  18Y1.  Far  from 
it.  The  red  flag  was  run  up  on  the  Hotel  de  Ville  to 
supplant  the  banner  of  France ;  while  the  German  enemy 
was  thundering  at  Paris  gates  the  Socialist  enemy  was 
taking  possession  within :  When  the  Allies  defeated  the 
Germans  —  the  Liebknecht-Luxemburg  group  —  that 
are  praised  so  highly  by  their  American  comrades  ran 
up  the  red  flag  on  the  Eoyal  Palace  of  Berlin  not  to 
"  supplement "  but  to  supplant  the  flag  of  Germany. 


THE  STAK-SP ANGLED  BANNER        143 

When  the  Bolsheviki  overthrew  the  Constituent  As- 
sembly, the  red  flag  went  up  on  the  Winter  Palace  of 
Petrograd  not  to  "  supplement  "  the  first  democratic  flag 
of  Russia,  but  to  supplant  it  with  the  Dictatorship  of 
the  Proletariat.  To  come  home  —  when  a  motion  was 
made  at  the  Washington  State  Convention  (1912)  of  the 
Socialist  Party  to  have  Old  Glory  displayed  together 
with  the  red  flag,  the  delegates  defeated  the  resolve  by  a 
vote  of  two  to  one.  Lacking  the  power,  Socialist  poli- 
ticians talk  of  supplementing  our  symbol  of  liberty  with 
theirs  of  license ;  having  the  power  they  haul  down  na- 
tional banners  and  run  up  the  International  flag  of  des- 
potism —  the  color  of  blood. 

The  diplomatic  "  Comrade "  "  Hillquit,"  is  not  so 
frank  as  is  Ernest  Belfort  Bax  of  England  —  an  inter- 
national authority  —  his  frankness,  not  his  doctrine,  is 
to  be  commended  when  he  says : 

"Hasten  the  day  .  .  .  when  the  working  classes  of  the 
civilized  world  will,  with  one  consent,  finally  abandon  the 
national  flags  of  their  masters,  and  range  themselves  under 
the  banner  of  Socialism.  .  .  ."  (Social  Democrat,  London, 
Vol.  8,  No.  7.) 

"  The  day  "  has  come,  but  not  gone,  in  Russia  as  there 
are  yet  alive  many  who  are  not  slaves  to  the  will  of 
Lenin-Trotsky.  For  ourselves,  the  question  is  —  Shall 
we  hasten  the  Socialist  day  ?  Or,  shall  we  say  —  They 
shall  not  pass? 

Abroad  and  at  home  the  will  to  crush  nations  under 
the  wheels  of  the  Socialist  juggernaut  may  be  seen  by 
what  they  do.     When  the  deliberations  of  the  first  Inter- 


144  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CTTRE 

national  Socialist  Congress  (Geneva  1866)  were  over, 
a  red  flag  fete  brought  the  occasion  to  an  end.  A  steam- 
boat on  Lake  Leman  was  chartered  for  an  excursion.  It 
was  gaily  decorated  and  a  band  provided  inspiriting 
music.  All  the  home  and  foreign  delegates  were  aboard. 
The  flags  of  many  nations  floated  from  the  ropes  run- 
ning to  the  mast  head,  and  it  was  significantly  bare. 
The  band  struck  up  the  Internationale  as  the  steamer 
glided  smoothly  out  into  the  lake.  Then  came  a  mighty 
shout  from  hundreds  of  throats,  "  Hurrah  for  the  Bed 
Republic/'  and  up  went  the  red  flag  to  the  topmost 
place.  Ah !  was  it  the  red  flag  of  Switzerland  with  the 
white  cross  ?  ^o,  not  so,  it  was  minus  the  cross.  It 
was  the  blood  red  flag  that  symbolized  the  power  that 
should  lay  low  the  flag  of  every  nation  under  the  sun. 
It  was  the  red  flag  that  pronounced  the  sentence  —  !N^o 
God,  No  Master.  It  was  the  threat  of  nationality 
wiped  out  of  a  world  without  religion. 

We  have  had  in  our  own  country  a  fantastical  scene 
but  with  the  same  meaning.  A  Socialist  clergyman  — 
Bouck  White,  whom  Eugene  V.  Debs  has  ordained  as 
"  the  only  Christian  minister "  in  I^ew  York,  has 
brought  the  Geneva  fete  quite  up  to  date.  Having  de- 
livered a  sermon  in  "  The  Church  of  Social  Revolution  " 
on  "  The  Idolatry  of  the  Flag  " ;  and  delivered  himself 
of  the  accusation  that  "  patriotism  is  a  relic  of  the  dark 
ages  " ;  that  "  the  American  flag  —  has  come  to  be  the 
pavilion  of  property  rights,"  Mr.  White  hied  himself  to 
the  back  yard.  Behind  the  church,  together  with  his 
comrades,  the  gentlemen  proceeded  to  the  ceremony  of 


THE  STAR-SPANGLED  BANNIER        145 

melting  all  the  nations  down  to  dregs  in  a  huge  iron  pot. 
One  after  another  the  flags  of  the  several  nations  of  the 
earth  were  placed  in  the  pot  —  our  sacred  emblem  in  full 
view.  There  was  a  flash  of  brimstone  and  devouring 
flames,  leaping  high,  that  reduced  them  all  to  nothing- 
ness. Ah!  how  great  and  glorious  is  the  use  of  me- 
chanics following  after  the  materialist  conception  of 
history.  Lo,  and  behold !  The  red  flag  of  Interna- 
tionalism waves  above  the  hot  pot.  The  feat  is  roundly 
applauded  and  the  blasphemous  "  amen  "  is  sounded. 

Let  no  sensible  man  think  that  this  contumacious  act 
of  their  pastor  was  resented  by  his  Socialist  flock. 
Quite  to  the  contrary: 

*^  The  congregation  of  the  church,  however,  stands  squarely 
behind  its  pastor  in  the  position  he  has  taken.  This  was 
made  evident  by  the  discussion  that  followed  the  sermon. 
Professor  Imbert,  of  the  department  of  history  of  Columbia 
University,  arose  to  say  that  he  agreed  with  everything  that 
Bouck  White  had  said  and  that  half  the  boys  under  him 
at  the  university  held  the  same  views.  In  the  event  of 
the  matter  being  forced  to  an  issue,  he  said,  they  were  willing 
to  go  to  any  lengths  with  White."  (New  York  Gallj  March 
27, 1916.) 

Bouck  White  was  brought  before  the  court  for  thus 
insulting  our  flag  and  given  a  well  deserved  term  in  the 
penitentiary.  The  judge  expressed  regret  that  the  law 
did  not  permit  him  to  give  the  offender  a  longer  sen- 
tence. Desecrating  the  flag  was  merely  a  huge  joke  to 
the  Socialist  daily  of  New  York.  It  bemoaned  the  event 
since : 


146  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"Dear  Comrade  BoucTc  White  languishes  in  jail  hecause 
he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  make  a  little  flag  soup 
in  his  hack  yard."     {Call,  Sept.  3,  1916.) 

Surely,  it  is  superfluous  to  note  that  this  man  who 
engages  in  crass  and  familiar  chat  about  our  Blessed 
Lord  being  the  greatest  Socialist  rebel  on  record,  was 
as  unrepentant  when  he  left  the  jail  as  he  was  when  he 
entered  therein.  For  it  should  be  well  understood  that 
whether  the  event  be  gay  at  Geneva,  or  treasonably  comic 
as  the  burning  of  flags  in  a  pot  in  the  back  yard  of  a 
church  or  as  bloody  red  as  the  Bolsheviki  regime  in 
starved  and  desolate  Russia,  their  aim  and  end  is  one 
and  the  same  the  wide- world  over:  To  substitute  the 
force  of  the  Marxian  red  flag  for  one  and  all  national 
banners  for  which  patriots  give  up  their  lives. 

No,  we  do  not  fear.  We  know  as  well  as  anybody  the 
onrush  of  dangers.  But  we  know  America's  best  de- 
fense. Our  glorious  banner  shall  be  seen  floating  ma- 
jestically in  the  breeze  in  all  its  brilliant  beauty  a  thou- 
sand years  after  this  latest  heresy  reduced  to  a  physical 
combat  has  been  beaten  back  through  the  Gates  of  Hell. 
This  our  well  beloved  Columbia  is  in  our  Blessed  Moth- 
er's care;  and  we  know  that  so  long  as  the  Catholic 
Church  inculcates  the  love  of  the  flag  in  the  hearts  of 
her  children  Old  Glory  is  safe. 

"Up  to  the  breeze  of  the  morning  I  fling  you, 
Blending  your  folds  with  the  dawn  in  the  sky; 

There  let  the  people  behold  you,  and  bring  you 
Love  and  devotion  that  never  shall  die. 


THE  STAE-SPANGLED  BANKER        147 

Proudly  agaze  at  your  glory,  I  stand 
Flag  o'  my  land !    Flag  o'  my  land ! 

Standard  most  glorious.  Banner  of  beauty! 

Whither  you  beckon  me  there  will  I  go ; 
Only  to  you,  after  God,  is  my  duty; 
Unto  no  other  allegiance  I  owe. 

Heart  of  me,  soul  of  me,  yours  to  command, 
Flag  o'  my  land!     Flag  o'  my  land! 

Tom  Daly." 

Love  of  our  flag  is  quickly,  generously  and  proudly 
translated  into  deeds  of  heroic  valor  that  never  die. 
Whether  or  not  the  words  are  the  same,  there  is  the  self- 
same straightforward  promise  of  loyalty  to  the  Gov- 
ernment when  it  is  declared  by  Congress  and  ratified 
by  the  signature  of  the  United  States  that  we  are  in  a 
state  of  war,  there  comes  from  every  priestly  Shepherd 
of  his  flock  as  came  in  these  plain  words  of 

Archbishop  George  W.  Mundelein,  of  Chicago 

"  And  now  that  it  has  begun,  none  of  us  can  tell  how 
long  it  will  last,  what  the  cost  in  human  life  may  be  and 
what  sacrifices  all  of  us  must  bring.  But  one  thing  is 
certain,  and  I  speak  for  myself,  for  800  priests  and  1,000,000 
of  Catholics,  the  moment  the  President  of  the  United  States 
affixed  his  signature  to  the  resolutions  of  Congress,  all  dif- 
ferences of  opinion  ceased.  We  stand  seriously,  solidly  and 
loyally  behind  them.  They  have  perhaps  information  that 
is  hidden  from  us;  they  may  know  that  danger  threatens 
this  nation  from  more  than  the  one  quarter  towards  which 
we  are  all  looking.  But  in  any  case  they  are  the  elected 
representatives  of  the  people;  this  is  a  government  of  the 
people  and  by  the  people.     We  have  chosen  them  and  into 


148  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

their  hands  we  have  given  the  reins  of  government  and  by 
their  decisions  we  must  abide,  otherwise  we  would  prove  un- 
worthy of  the  blessing  of  a  free  democracy.  And  so  in  this 
hour  of  crisis  I  pledge  the  loyalty  of  our  Catholic  people  to 
our  flag.  I  say  this  not  in  a  burst  of  enthusiasm,  carried 
away  by  the  excitement  of  the  moment  or  just  as  an  empty 
figure  of  speech.  For  by  our  acts  we  will  be  judged,  not  by 
words.  Soon  will  many  of  our  young  men  leave  home  to  step 
into  the  ranks  of  the  army  or  navy.  The  old  Church  that 
looked  after  them  at  home  will  follow  them,  too,  to  the  bat- 
tlefield. God  knows  that  we  need  priests  sorely,  but  we  will 
economize  our  forces  here  that  they  may  go  with  the  soldier 
boys." 

Catholics  are  taught  to  render  to  Caesar  what  belongs 
to  Caesar  —  to  love  and  to  honor  their  flag  if  need  be 
unto  death,  for  God  has  commanded  it.  Catholics  are 
taught  to  render  to  God  what  belongs  to  God  —  to  take 
up  their  cross  following  after  our  Blessed  Lord  into 
the  bliss  of  our  Heavenly  Home. 


WOULD  COKRUPT  THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY 

NOT  merely  a  national  view  but  rather  a  world 
view  is  necessary  to  encompass  the  meaning  of 
Socialist  propaganda,  for  the  simple  reason  that  its  aim 
is  the  undoing  of  nations  in  the  interest  of  the  Interna- 
tional. It  is  not  readjustment,  not  even  reorganization 
within  the  commonwealth,  nor  is  it  a  league  of  nations 
for  the  better  protection  of  individual  and  national 
rights  that  it  seeks.  Yet,  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  it  is 
because  a  remedy  has  not  yet  been  applied  —  although  it 
was  long  since  found  and  designated  Christian  Democ- 
racy by  Pope  Leo  XIII  —  in  defense  of  the  hewers  of 
wood,  in  defense  of  the  smaller  and  weaker  nations 
against  the  imperialistic  designs  of  larger  and  stronger 
nations  that  Socialism  stalks  over  the  earth  with  the 
stride  of  seven  leagued  boots. 

They  want  to  expropriate  the  expropriators  —  a  class- 
less society. 

We  want  that  the  several  classes  in  society  shall  deal 
justly  one  with  the  other. 

They  want  the  land  and  capital  now  in  private  hands 
confiscated  by  the  proletariat  of  the  world. 

We  want  that  private  property  shall  be  maintained, 
that  employers  shall  produce,  transport  and  exchange 

149 


150  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

commodities  on  the  basis  of  equity  and  that  wage  earn- 
ers shall  receive  the  full  value  of  their  toil. 

They  want  a  dead  level  of  mediocre  folk  with  the  in- 
dividual as  the  unit  of  the  animalistic  herd. 

We  want  an  infinite  variety  of  home  life  that  corre- 
sponds to  the  multitudinous  gifts,  high  and  low  with 
which  mankind  has  been  endowed. 

They  want  the  monogamic  family  to  make  its  exit 
upon  the  entrance  of  the  whole  female  sex  into  the  public 
industries. 

We  want  the  Christian  home  to  be  that  central  place 
on  earth  most  like  to  heaven  above. 

They  want  to  corrupt  the  army  and  navy  that  the  na- 
tion may  be  without  defense  from  their  intrigues  within 
and  from  their  assaults  without. 

We  want  to  maintain  the  army  and  navy  as  a  bulwark 
of  strength  against  disorder  at  home  and  a  sure  guard 
against  aggressions  from  abroad. 

]^ow,  since  Socialism  takes  advantage  of  every  op- 
portunity to  discredit  and  to  undermine  the  vocation 
of  the  soldier  and  the  sailor  and  to  inoculate  them 
with  disloyal  thoughts  and  to  incite  them  to  treasonable 
acts,  we  believe  it  a  patriotic  duty  to  set  forth  the  facts 
in  proof  of  this  menace,  that  threatens  to  break  the  mo- 
rale of  our  army  and  navy. 

We  do  not  come  to  the  defense  of  war  for  the  glory 
of  war  —  though  we  would  not  take  away  one  iota  of 
honor  from  those  who  give  their  blood  at  the  call  of  their 
home-land.  What  we  mean  to  do  is  so  to  extend  the 
voice  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ  that  his  sound  reasoning, 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  151 

relative  to  armed  force,  may  win  the  admiration  of  well 
intentioned  men,  all  unaccustomed  to  the  voice  of  the 
Church.  Then  we  may  be  sure  that  such  will  give  tlieir 
aid  in  driving  from  our  midst  those  opinions  and  senti- 
ments that  make  for  desolation. 

As  all  should  know  the  Catholic  Church  has  but  one 
voice  —  since  Truth  is  Truth  with  nothing  added  and 
nothing  taken  away.  Yet,  just  because  Truth  is  ab- 
solute men  may  bespeak  it  in  a  multitude  of  forms  yet 
never  change  its  meaning.  The  Great  Doctor,  St.  Au- 
gustine, in  reviewing  this  matter  makes  the  reflection : 

"  If  Christian  discipline  condemned  all  wars,  the  Gosx)el 
would  have  given  this  counsel  of  salvation  to  the  soldiers 
who  asked  what  they  should  do,  that  they  should  throw 
away  their  arms  and  withdraw  themselves  from  the  military 
service  altogether.  But  it  says  to  them,  *Do  violence  to 
no  man,  calumniate  no  one,  and  be  content  with  your  wages,' 
St.  Luke  iii,  14.  Surely  it  does  not  prohibit  the  military 
service  to  those  whom  it  conunands  to  be  content  with  their 
wages."     (Epirthe  V.  Ad  Marcelium,  C  2,  15  n.) 

Our  Lord's  commendation  of  the  Centurian :  "  I 
have  not  found  so  great  faith  in  Israel."  (Matt.  VIII, 
5-10)  surely  takes  cognizance  of  the  fact  that  the  Cen- 
turian has  soldiers  under  him  who  go  there  or  come 
here  at  his  commands.  Here  there  is  not  slightest  sug- 
gestion that  this  oflScer  should  abandon  the  military 
service.  Again,  another  soldier  — "  Cornelius,  a  cenr 
turian  of  that  which  is  called  the  Italian  band,"  is  re- 
ferred to  by  Christ  as  "  a  religious  man,  and  fearing 
God — "     (Acts  X,  1-2.)     It  certainly  were  unreason- 


152  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

able  to  assume  that  this  appreciation  would  have  been 
given  to  one  who  followed  a  vocation  against  the  divine 
law. 

The  great  Apostle,  St.  Paul,  says  (Heb.  xi,  32-34)  :  "  The 
time  would  fail  me  to  tell  of  Gedeon,  Barac,  Samson, 
Jephthe,  David,  Samuel  and  the  prophets:  Who  by  faith 
conquered  kingdoms,  wrought  justice,  obtained  promises, 
stopped  the  mouths  of  liars,  quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  es- 
caped the  edge  of  the  sword,  recovered  strength  from  weak- 
ness, became  valiant  in  battle,  put  to  flight  the  armies  of 
foreigners." 

This  then  is  and  ever  has  been  the  doctrine  of  the 
Christian  Church,  that  the  armed  force  of  the  nation  is 
not  alone  proper  but  necessary.  That,  therefore,  the 
vocation  of  the  soldier  may  be  followed  with  honor  by 
the  most  religious  of  men. 

As  we  reflect,  we  give  honor  to  the  soldier  —  Wash- 
ington—  who,  under  God,  formed  us  a  nation.  So 
it  is  that  the  issue  admits  of  no  equivocation.  Every 
citizen  must  stand  for  the  integrity  of  the  army  and 
navy. 

But  Socialists  will  not !  They  reject  the  law  of  God 
and  the  love  of  country  as  a  binding  force,  while  na- 
tional integrity  has  no  place  in  their  philosophy.  Na- 
tional  Integrity  is  a  bulwark  that  they  mean  to  pull 
down,  by  a  propaganda  that  never  slumbers  nor  sleeps. 
Since  it  is  over  the  dead  body  of  the  nation  that  So- 
cialism climbs  into  its  own,  we  may  not  expect  a  sur- 
cease until  its  ill  directed  energy  is  spent.  The  date  of 
that  time  is  for  liberty  lovers  to  fix. 

It  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  however  rebellious  men 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  153 

are,  fundamental  principles  cannot  be  ignored.  God 
is  not  mocked.  Consequently  it  is  certain  that  Social- 
ism will  give  proof  —  though  in  a  negative  way  — 
that  loyalty  is  necessary  to  their  scheme  of  a  "  new  so- 
ciety." To  corrupt  our  soldiery  is  right  since  it  ad- 
vances the  revolution.  But,  once  a  government  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  Marxians,  loyalty  to  death  is  demanded 
of  their  soldiery.  Here  then,  is  the  key  by  which  to 
understand  the  issue  we  are  confronted  with  —  here  is 
the  proof  that  although  loyalty  is  scorned  as  an  obliga- 
tion to  Caesar,  under  God,  loyalty  is  now  in  Russia  de- 
manded unto  death  by  those  men  who  have  set  up  a  pro- 
letarian dictatorship  there  as  the  first  step  in  the  con- 
quest of  the  world.     We  quote :  — 

The  Oath  of  Enlistment  of  Soviet  Soldiers 

1.  Son  of  the  People,  worker  and  citizen  of  the  Russian 
Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Eepublic,  I  enroll  in  the  Workers' 
and  Peasants'  Army. 

2.  Before  the  working  class  of  Russia  and  the  whole  world 
I  swear:  to  respect  my  position  as  soldier;  to  conscienti- 
ously undergo  my  military  training;  to  safeguard  the  in- 
terests of  the  Army  and  the  People,  and  to  defend  them 
with  my  heart's  blood. 

3.  I  swear  to  submit  strictly  to  revolutionary  discipline, 
and  to  obey  without  question  the  orders  of  my  chiefs,  desig- 
nated by  authority  of  the  Workers'  and  Peasants'  Govern- 
ment. 

4.  I  swear  to  commit  no  action  detrimental  to  the  repu- 
tation of  the  free  citizens  of  the  Russian  Soviet  Republic; 
I  swear  to  consecrate  myself,  in  thought  and  in  action,  to 
our  ideal  of  the  emancipation  of  all  the  working  classes. 

5.  I  swear,  that  at  the  call  of  the  Workers'  and  Peasants' 


154  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Government,  I  will  risk  my  life  to  defend  the  Soviet  Republic 
against  whatever  dangers  there  may  be,  from  wherever  it 
may  come,  and  that  I  will  give  whatever  I  have  of  strength 
and  of  life  for  the  defense  of  the  Soviet  Republic,  of  Social- 
ism and  of  the  brotherhood  of  the  people. 

6.  Let  me  be  delivered  to  the  contempt  of  the  People  and 
the  severe  punishment  of  the  laws  of  the  Revolution  if  I 
violate  the  oath !  ("  Revolutionary  Age,"  Boston,  March  29, 
1919.) 

We  purpose  now  to  exhibit  piece  after  piece  of  testi- 
mony in  support  of  our  conviction  that  Socialists  would 
corrupt  the  army  and  navy.  Thousands  of  copies  of  a 
crude  book  — "  War,  What  For  ?  "—  by  George  R.  Kirk- 
patrick  (Vice-presidential  nominee,  Socialist  Party  — 
1916)  were  sent  forth  to  "  drain  the  recruiting  stations 
and  thin  the  ranks  of  the  soldiery." 

Every  occasion  is  made  an  opportunity  of  belittling  a 
soldier's  life.  "  Soldiers  are  potential  strike-breakers." 
(New  York  Call,  June  3,  1916.) 

"The  American  Militia  is  made  up  of  young  whipper- 
snappers,  mostly  sons  of  capitalists  who  go  into  it  for  fun 
and  the  purpose  of  killing  strikers  when  they  turn  out." 
(Pamphlet,  Daniel  De  Leon.) 

"  Policemen,  sheriffs  and  marshals  are  the  same  as  soldiers, 
Bo  far  as  you  are  concerned,"  that  is  to  say,  the  hirelings  of 
the  capitalist  class  are  ever  enemies  of  the  working  class." 

PerTiaps  the  most  widely  circulated  single  attack  upon 
the  soldier  was  written  by  Jack  London  —  the  famous 
or  infamous  author.  His  estimate  of  the  soldier  has 
been  printed  in  nearly  every  one  of  their  English  Ian- 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  155 

giiage  papers,  on  circulars  and  postcards,  and  spread 
broadcast  throughout  the  world.  We  present  it  as  pub- 
lished in  the  Buffalo  Socialist  (Sept.  20,  1913)  to- 
gether with  the  Editor's  introduction : 

"During  the  Perry  Celebration  one  of  the  features  was 
a  grand  military  display.  Men  paraded  in  all  kinds  of  fancy 
uniforms,  and  the  best  bands  that  could  be  procured  were 
in  the  procession.  Soldiers,  sailors,  artillery  and  quick-firing 
guns  were  toted  through  the  streets,  not  only  for  the  amuse- 
ment of  the  visitors,  but  for  the  purpose  of  inspiring  un- 
thinking youths  who  might  be  deceived  into  joining  these 
institutions  of  multiplied  murder.  For  the  benefit  of  the 
young  men  of  this  city  we  reprint  Jack  London's  *  Good 
Soldier.'    Cut  it  out  and  paste  it  up  in  a  conspicuous  place. 

THE  'GOOD  SOLDIER' 
(By  Jack  London) 

"Young  Men:  The  lowest  aim  in  your  life  is  to  be- 
come a  soldier.  The  good  soldier  never  tries  to  distin- 
guish right  from  wrong.  He  never  thinks;  never  rea- 
sons ;  he  only  obeys.  If  he  is  ordered  to  fire  on  his  fellow 
citizens,  on  his  friends,  on  his  neighbors,  on  his  relatives, 
he  obeys  without  hesitation.  If  he  is  ordered  to  fire 
down  a  crowded  street  when  the  poor  are  clamoring  for 
bread,  he  obeys,  and  sees  the  gray  hairs  of  age  stained 
with  red  and  the  life  tide  gushing  from  the  breasts  of 
women,  feeling  neither  remorse  nor  sympathy.  If  he  is 
ordered  off  as  a  firing  squad  to  execute  a  hero  or  bene- 
factor, he  fires  without  hesitation,  though  he  knows  the 
bullet  will  pierce  the  noblest  heart  that  ever  beat  in  hu- 
man breast. 

"A  good  soldier  is  a  blind,  heartless,  soulless,  mur- 
derous machine.    He  is  not  a  man.    He  is  not  a  brute. 


156  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

for  brutes  only  kill  in  self-defense.  All  that  is  human 
in  him,  all  that  is  divine  in  him,  all  that  constitutes 
the  man  has  been  sworn  away  when  he  took  the  enlist- 
ment roll.  His  mind,  his  conscience,  aye,  his  very  soul, 
are  in  the  keeping  of  his  officer. 

"  No  man  can  fall  lower  than  a  soldier  —  it  is  a  depth 
beneath  which  he  cannot  go.  Keep  the  boys  out  of  the 
army.     It  is  Tiell. 

"Down  with  the  army  and  the  navy.  We  don't  need 
killing  institutions.     We  need  life-giving  institutions." 

"  Our  Gene," —  the  genial  Debs  is  not  to  be  outrun  by 
the  most  celebrated  amongst  socialist  authors: 

"  The  workingman  who  turns  soldier  becomes  the  hired 
assassin  of  the  capitalist  master.  He  goes  on  the  murderers' 
payroll  at  fifty  cents  a  day  under  orders  to  kill  anybody, 
anywhere,  at  any  time.  This  is  the  vile  abject  thing  we 
call  a  soldier.  Lower  than  the  slimy,  dripping  depth  to 
which  this  craven  creature  crawls  neither  man  nor  beast 
can  even  sink  in  time  or  eternity."  (^Army  and  Navy  Jour- 
nal, Dec.  25,  1916.) 

The  occasion  when,  by  our  then  President  Roosevelt, 
colored  troops  were  discharged  for  rioting,  and  other 
conduct  imbecoming  to  members  of  the  National  Guard, 
at  Brownsville,  Texas,  supplied  an  unwonted  opportu- 
nity for  displaying  contempt  for  soldiers,  who  volun- 
teer their  services  in  defense  of  our  country.  It  was 
taken  full  advantage  of.  We  quote  excerpts  from  state- 
ments made  by  National  Committeemen  of  the  Socialist 
Party,  giving  reasons  for  their  vote  upon  a  pending  mo- 
tion to  condemn  President  Roosevelt's  action.  (S.  P. 
Official  Bulletin,  Vol.  3,  No.  5.) 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  157 

Wells  Le  Fevre  (Arkansas) 

"I  vote  no. —  We  might  as  well  ask  for  'justice'  from 
the  soldier's  gun  as  for  the  soldier.  When  he  enlisted  he 
surrendered  all  his  rights  and  became  a  part  of  an  infernal 
machine  for  a  more  infernal  purpose." 

Comrade  Woodside  (Colorado) 

"For  my  part  I  would  like  to  see  the  entire  army  dis- 
honorably discharged."  "  They  are  the  lackeys  of  capitalism 
and  as  such  ready  at  all  times  to  do  their  dirty  and  criminal 
work." 

A.  J.  Pettigrew  (Florida) 

"I  vote  no. —  Not  because  I  don't  want  justice  done, 
but  because  soldiers  are  not  the  instruments  of  justice." 

A.  L.  Smith  (Louisiana) 

"  His  motive  spells  treason  and  could  come  from  none  but 
a  traitor."  "  That  base  and  iniquitous  wretch  known  as  a 
soldier."  "  The  soldiers'  business  is  to  kill  —  to  kill  what  ? 
People.  What  kind  of  people?  Working  people.  Did  you 
ever  know  of  soldiers  killing  any  other  kind  ? "  "  It  should 
be  clear  that  these  beasts  are  not  members  of  our  class  — 
the  working  class." 

J.  E.  Voss  (Tennessee) 

"We  cannot  see  how  a  Socialist  can  put  himself  in  the 
same  class  as  a  lot  of  uninformed  murderers  —  not  con- 
scripted, but  voluntary  —  whose  sole  mission  is  to  protect 
capitalists'  interests  and  shoot  down  the  working  class  pro- 
ducers." 


168  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

W.  H.  Mills  (Texas) 

"  The  Soldiery,  whatever  their  color,  are  the  murderous 
mercenaries  of  predatory  and  repressive  capitalism.  Their 
mission  is  to  murder  the  working  class — " 

Alf.  WagenknecM  (Washington) 

"  It  truly  seems  to  me  that  every  time  the  capitalist  class 
does  anything  to  disorganize  its  own  forces,  no  matter  how 
it  does  it,  it  is  to  our  benefit.  These  soldiers,  formerly 
servants  of  the  class  opposed  to  us,  may  now,  after  a  few 
more  knocks  in  the  real  slave  market,  become  what  we  are." 

Rohert  Bandlow  (Ohio) 

"  In  voting  '  no '  —  it  is  to  emphasize  that  in  the  class 
war  these  negro  soldiers  are  upholding  the  system  which 
accentuates  the  misery  of  the  proletarian.  The  Socialist 
Party  is  not  called  upon  to  meddle  in  the  affairs  of  the 
bourgeosie." 

F.  L.  Swartz  (Pennsylvania) 

"I  would  hail  the  day  when  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  the  plutes'  representatives  of  the  whole  world 
would  give  all  their  soldiers  dishonorable  discharges." 

Referring  to  the  "  reasons  "  given  by  these  Socialist 
I^ational  Committeemen  for  upholding  disobedience,  dis- 
loyalty and  treason  as  the  real  duty  of  the  soldiers  as 
against  their  alleged  duty  to  keep  fellow  workingmen  in 
poverty  and  to  kill  them,  "Victor  L.  Berger,  in  his  own 
paper,  makes  this  comment :     The  statements  "  accomr 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  159 

panying  the  votes  of  the  National  Committeemen  of  the 
Socialist  Party  give  some  idea  of  the  prevailing  opinion 
of  progressive  working  people  on  the  subject  of  govern- 
ment soldiery." 

Yet,  it  is  their  purpose  by  the  spread  of  treasonable 
literature  to  win  these  "  dastards,"  these  "  reptiles," 
these  "  cowards,"  these  lowest  characters  imaginable  to 
their  glorious  cause  —  Socialism,  the  religion  of  the 
working-class.  Surely,  such  were  quite  fitting  associ- 
ates! 

Their  means  are  like  in  character  to  their  ultimate 
aim.  There  is  no  beating  about  the  bush,  for  the  hope  is 
boldly  expressed  that  mutiny  in  the  army  and  navy 
shall  become  an  order  of  especial  use  in  the  confiscation 
of  capital.     The  Socialist  Voice  (Oakland,  Cal.)  sent  a 

CIRCULAK    LETTER     TO     ALL     SOCIALIST     AND 
REVOLUTIONARY  PAPERS 

It  went  the  rounds.  All  over  the  country  there  was  a 
vigorous  ringing  of  charges  upon  its  forceful  phrases: 
*'  There  is  such  a  thing  as  mutiny/'  Yes,  "  gen- 
eral mutiny  simultaneous  with  a  general  strike/'  Since 
"  The  Socialist  Party  frankly  avows  its  intention 
of  appropriating  the  means  of  production/'  it  is  certain 
that ''  the  army  and  navy  must  be  turned  into  a  state  of 
ferment/'  The  way  to  do  this  is  to  deluge  the  soldiers 
and  the  sailors  "  with  good  class  conscious  propaganda 
and  the  results  will  be  astonishing."  At  Socialist  com- 
mand, the  guns  shall  be  turned  upon  the  capitalist  class 
—  For  there  is  such  a  thing  as  mutiny. 


160  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUHE 

It  was  somewhat  astonishing  that  this  circular  should 
have  been  published  in  the  Christian  Socialist  (Chicago, 
May  15,  1907).  We  give  some  paragraphs  taken  there- 
from: 

"Do  you  realize  that  there  exists  in  the  United  States 
to-day  two  of  the  most  feudalistic  institutions  in  the  world? 
We  refer  to  the  United  States  Army  and  the  United  States 
Navy.  The  discipline  in  these  two  institutions  is  such  as 
to  render  them  the  most  powerful  and  at  the  same  time 
the  most  servile  tools  .  of  the  capitalist  class.  It  is  simply 
appalling  to  contemplate  the  damage  these  two  institutions 
could  do  the  working  class  in  case  the  present  revolution 
assumed  a  violent  aspect. 

"  This  Is  Not  a  Theory,  Bui  an  Oft'  Demonstrated  Fact. 
The  murder,  by  the  artillery  of  the  men,  women  and  children 
in  the  Southern  Philippines, —  the  brutal  slaughter  of 
the  French  proletarians  during  the  Paris  commune,  the 
Nevska  Prospect  butchery,  and  others  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion, all  indicate  that  the  policy  of  the  capitalist  class  is 
a  policy  of  bloodshed  and  murder. 

"  It  has  long  been  recognized  that  the  rulers  and  capital- 
ists, synonymous  terms,  have  exalted  private  property  above 
human  life — .  This  has  been  proven  so  often  as  to  render 
illustrations  superfluous.  Now,  the  Socialist  party  frankly 
avows  its  intention  of  appropriation  of  the  means  of  pro- 
duction. There  is  no  beating  about  the  bush;  we,  the  work- 
ers, want  full  product  of  our  labor,  and  we  propose  to  get 
it;  we  further  realize  that  we  can  never  get  it  under  the 
present  system.  To  change  the  system  implies  the  taking 
over  of  the  means  of  production  and  using  them  for  the 
common  good  instead  of  the  good  of  the  few,  as  at  present. 
Do  you  think  the  capitalists  will  like  this?  Do  you  think 
they  will  tamely  submit  to  the  taking  of  their  property  by 
legal  or  extra  legal  means?     Is  it  possible  that  they  who 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  161 

own  the  courts,  the  legislature  and  the  executive  powers 
of  government  will  make  no  effort  to  use  these  powers  to 
protect  their  sacred  property?  If  you  think  they  will  sub- 
mit without  a  struggle,  you  are  —  pardon  the  frankness  — 
an  idiot. 

"  Suppose,  for  instance,  the  Socialist  vote  of  this  country 
became  a  menace  —  and  it  will  no  doubt  become  a  serious 
menace  —  to  the  capitalist  class.  Would  the  '  constitution  ' 
keep  them  from  disfranchising  the  worker?  Not  much! 
Then  here,  as  in  Russia,  the  only  weapon  left  the  workers 
would  be  a  general  strike,  hacked  up  hy  an  armed  revolution; 
and  in  that  case  our  only  hope  of  winning  will  be  to  have 
the  Army  and  the  Navy  in  such  a  state  of  ferment  that 
they  will  cast  their  lot  with  the  workers  instead  of  being 
loyal  to  their  present  masters. 

"Would  it  not  be  a  humorous  piece  of  poetic  justice  to 
turn  the  guns  of  the  capitalists  against  them?  And  it  can 
be  done,  because  it  has  teen  done  more  than  once. 

"  There  is  a  greater  per  cent,  of  class-conscious  sailors  and 
soldiers  than  of  proletarians,  but  as  yet  they  are  unconscious 
of  the  class-consciousness.  But  let  the  Socialists  deluge 
them  with  good  class- conscious  propaganda,  and  the  results 
will  be  astonishing,  especially  to  our  masters  —  for  nothing 
astonishes  a  socialist.  So  long  as  the  Army  and  the  Navy 
are  loyal  to  the  capitalist  class,  it  will  be  well-nigh  impos- 
sible to  introduce  the  cooperative  conunonwealth ;  hut 
armies  are  not  loyal  to  their  masters;  there  is  such  a  thing 
as  a  mutiny! 

"  Take  Russia,  for  example.  Could  the  revolution  have 
made  such  progress  had  it  not  been  for  the  mutinies  of  the 
raw  troops  and  the  sailors  ?  And  if  *  oppressed  Russia '  can 
successfully  conduct  an  anti-military  campaign  of  socialist 
agitation,  why  shouldn't  'free  America'?  In  the  United 
States  Army  every  enlisted  man  must  be  able  to  read  English ; 
we  can   easily  reach  them ;   they  have  no   delusions   about 


162  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUHE 

our  'Little  Father'  (Theodora  I),  because  they  are  wise  to 
him.  The  United  States  Government  —  always  imcompetent 
and  impotent  —  will  be  powerless  to  stop  our  propaganda. 

"  Many  other  prominent  socialists,  including  the  editor  of 
many  socialist  papers,  have  already  endorsed  the  idea  and 
not  a  single  socialist,  so  far,  has  condemned  it. 

"  With  '  the  men  behind  the  guns '  on  our  side,  we  have 
nothing  to  fear,  for  courts,  kings  and  military  dictators 
are  powerless  when  they  have  no  guns  to  back  up  their  de- 
cisions ;  and  '  God '  is  but  a  royal  alias  for  a  '  standing 
army.'  All  it  requires  is  the  properly  directed  effort  on  our 
part,  and  we  can  have  a  general  mutiny  simultaneous  with 
the  general  strike." 

It  is  their  brag  that  "  not  a  single  Socialist  paper  con- 
demned "  this  appeal  to  treason.  We  may  be  sure  that 
this  Circular  Letter  presents  a  rather  plausible  picture 
to  those  men  who  have  for  long  forsworn  their  allegiance 
to  their  country.  Their  shibboleth  —  'No  God,  no  coun- 
try —  expresses  their  case  consistently.  Almighty  God 
is  not  merely  imhnown.  He  is  "  a  royal  alias,"  to  Whom 
the  Socialists  on  guard  pay  scorn  instead  of  honor ;  while 
they  are  constantly  on  the  watch  to  corrupt  men  behind 
the  guns. 

Thus  the  case  stands  —  a  world-wide  Bolsheviki  prop- 
aganda that  rises  like  a  tidal  wave  to  engulf  nations 
made  weak  because  of  political  injustice  and  economic 
oppression.  Hence  this  question  is  pertinent  —  what 
effect  should  Socialist  propaganda  have  upon  the  great 
capitalists  of  our  country  ?  To  say  nothing  in  the  inter- 
est of  their  souls'  salvation,  and  if  from  no  higher  mo- 
tive than  enlightened  self-interest  they  should  be,  be- 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  163 

cause  they  can  be,  the  first  to  make  an  effective  move 
towards  social  justice  by  a  readjustment  in  industry  — 
commerce  —  finance. 

Liberty  is  in  the  air  fanning  the  flame  of  justice  that 
men  may  be  free  before  the  law  and  that  equity  shall  be 
done  in  the  market  of  the  world.  This  is  merely  another 
way  of  remembering  that  men  are  made  in  the  image 
of  God  and  that  not  forever  will  they  submit  to  a  viola- 
tion of  their  inborn  rights,  political  and  economic,  by 
the  might  and  the  greed  of  the  few.  Especially  now 
since  with  the  aid  of  a  little  true  history  they  hark  back 
to  the  echo  of  the  past  —  to  the  guilds  of  the  middle  ages 
within  which  master  and  men  settled  their  differences 
not  by  might  or  crooked  wisdom  but  by  the  even  tones 
of  the  voice  of  the  Church.  Then,  wage-earners  were 
not  treated  as  a  mere  commodity-labor  —  to  be  bought  at 
the  lowest  prices  and  furnished  with  the  meanest  accom- 
modations. But  rather  they  were  an  elemental  part  of 
that  Christian  society  —  that  Brotherhood  of  Man  — 
that  was  engrafted,  by  the  Church  of  Christ,  into  the 
affairs  of  a  Pagan  and  barbarous  world.  When  these 
guilds,  of  culture  and  of  craft,  were  despoiled  by  the 
hand  of  an  apostate  priest  and  a  wicked  king,  the  best 
and  the  bravest  were  sent  to  the  rack  and  the  scaffold 
while  the  defenseless  multitude  were  ground  in  the  dust. 
Slowly,  since  God  is  good  and  the  spirit  of  man  is  free, 
a  readjustment  so  vast  as  to  be  planned  by  no  man's  hand 
is  bringing,  once  more,  the  people  into  their  own.  By 
the  genius  of  men  the  bounties  of  God  are  now  set  so 
free  that  the  necessities,  aye  the  elegancies  of  living 


164  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

are  seen  to  be  suflBcient  for  all.  Truly  it  is  not  a  dearth 
of  material  goods  but  the  arrogant  spirit  of  the  rich  that 
straps  on  the  back  of  the  poor  a  burden  too  great  for  men 
to  bear. 

Evidently  the  conclusion  is  plain  —  The  captains  of 
industry  —  commerce  —  finance  must  choose  between 
self-reformation  or  the  deluge.  Yet,  the  wisdom  of  God 
is  in  no  man's  hand ;  while  the  innocent  ever  suffer  with 
the  guilty. 

So  much  for  this  phase  of  Socialist-Bolsheviki  'propa- 
ganda in  our  country.  What  does  the  scribe  tell  of  the 
preparation  of  the  soil  for  the  revolution  over  seas? 
There  is  the  self -same  determined  attempt  to  undermine 
the  loyalty  of  the  army  and  navy  in  every  country  in 
which  there  has  and  is  an  active  Socialist  movement. 
Marx  and  Engels  heavily  oversowed  the  sentiment  of 
national  loyalty  with  the  cockle  of  international  bravado 
and  much  of  it  has  ripened  into  rank  fruit  throughout 
Europe.  With  confidence  Victor  Grayson  (Wigand, 
Eng.  Sep.  23,  1907)  expresses  the  view  that  Socialist 
propaganda  is  taking  effect: 

"I  am  looking  to  the  time  when  the  British  soldier  will 
emulate  his  brother  of  the  National  Guard  of  France  and, 
when  asked  to  fire  upon  the  People  who  are  fighting  for 
their  rights,  will  turn  his  rifle  in  the  other  direction.  We 
are  making  a  Socialist  of  Tommy  Atkins  by  propaganda 
work  in  the  Army." 

Bernard  Shaw's  voice  is  still  more  powerful.  By 
tongue  and  pen  he  has  long  served  the  cause  of  the 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  IsTAVY  105 

revolution,  by  breaking  down  faith  in  God ;  love  of  coun- 
try ;  the  integrity  of  the  family  and  the  belief  in  private 
property.  His  estimate  of  the  soldier  is  given  in  "  John 
Bull's  Other  Island  " : 

"  The  Soldier  is  an  anachronism  of  which  we  must  get 
rid  —  military  service  produces  moral  imbecility,  ferocity, 
and  cowardice. —  For  permanent  work,  the  soldier  is  worse 
than  useless;  such  efficiency  as  he  has  is  the  result  of  de- 
humanization  and  disablement.  His  whole  training  tends 
to  make  him  a  weakling." 

L'Humanite,  the  leading  Socialist  daily  published 
in  Paris,  gives  out  an  interview  with  Bernard  Shaw  that 
is  characteristic: 

"If  war  should  eventually  come  to  England,  the  English 
Socialists  should  not  hesitate  to  advise  the  sabotage  of  the 
Dreadnoughts." 

Asked  if  such  advice  would  likely  be  carried  into  effect, 
Shaw  said : 

"  We  may  reasonably  hope  so.  The  British  navy  has  be- 
come indoctrinated  with  the  new  ideas.  You  must  know 
that  there  is  neither  a  destroyer  nor  a  cruiser  that  does 
not  carry  with  it  on  each  cruise  new  revolutionary  pamphlets, 
that  the  crew  of  the  Jupite,  a  warship  of  the  first  class,  was 
disbanded  some  years  ago  because  there  were  at  least  a 
hundred  anti-militarists  among  them." 

Army  and  Navy  Journal  makes  it  the  subject  of  an 
editorial  (May  6,  1911): 


166  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  SociAjjsT  Crippling  of  Waeships  " 

"  The  frequent  inexplicable  disasters  to  Erench  warships 
which  have  so  often  been  held  up  as  a  want  of  naval  seaman- 
ship are  now,  since  the  discovery  of  sabotage,  attributed 
to  these  cowardly  miscreants  who  cripple  a  ship  in  such 
a  way  that  it  becomes  helpless  at  a  critical  moment  and 
either  goes  on  the  rocks,  founders,  or  is  the  victim  of  a 
mysterious  explosion  in  the  boiler  rooms.  A  few  months 
ago  the  sights  of  the  big  guns  of  H.  M.  S.  Irresistible  were 
thrown  overboard,  and  this  disabling  of  the  armament  was 
ascribed  to  members  of  the  crew,  although  the  perpetrators 
coidd  not  be  found.  The  fact  that  so  serious  an  expression 
of  mutinous  discontent  came  at  a  time  when  the  Socialists 
boast  that  the  Royal  Navy  is  honeycombed  with  their  theories 
is  sufficient  to  arouse  inquiry  as  to  where  such  agitation 
will  stop." 

It  is  by  holding  in  mind  the  philosophy  of  Socialism 
that  one  is  enabled  to  understand  why  the  deeds  of 
"  these  cowardly  miscreants  who  cripple  a  ship  in  such 
a  way  that  it  becomes  helpless  at  a  critical  moment " 
are  works  of  heroic  virtue  in  the  view  of  those  who  ar- 
rogate to  themselves  the  mission  of  creating  the  "  new 
society."  The  Chicago  Daily  Socialist  (May  25, 
1909)  exultantly  announces  that  "Socialists  Mar  Ship 
Launching."  It  tells  with  pride  of  the  occasion  in 
Brest,  France,  where  Socialists  singing  "  L'lnterna- 
tional,"  prevented  the  battleship  Danton  from  leaving 
the  stocks  and  rejoices  that  "  a  strong  Socialist  spirit 
prevails  among  the  employees "  of  the  works.  The 
source  of  these  disasters  to  French  battleships  is  coolly 
pointed  out  —  the  new  revolutionary  pamphlets,  so  in- 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  167 

dustriouslj  circulated  by  the  comrades,  first  created  the 
"  Socialist  spirit  "  and  this  same  spirit  finds  its  outlet 
in  sabotage.  Without  a  doubt,  the  battleship  lena  was 
deliberately  set  on  fire  by  this  spirit  that  animated  the 
Socialist  sailory. 

From  Norway  came  the  news,  through  their  leading 
Socialist  Daily  (New  York  Call,  Sept.  20,  1911),  that 
nearly  two  hundred  soldiers  were  court-martialed  and 
sentenced  in  Christiania  "  for  breaking  the  military 
code."  The  comment  following  encourages  others  to  do 
likewise : 

"  There  ia,  however,  no  doubt  that  the  Socialist  propaganda 
is  immediately  responsible  for  the  revolt."  —  and  that  "  the 
Socialist  agitation  among  the  Soldiers  continues  unabated." 

Although  the  spirit  of  revolt  is  carried  by  Socialist 
propaganda  into  the  military  system  of  every  country  in 
Europe  it  shall  be  sufiicient  to  show  their  efforts  to 
undermine  loyalty,  somewhat  in  detail,  here  at  home. 

The  Dick  Mllitaby  Law 

Ever  alert  to  further  their  cause  the  Dick  Military 
law  was  made  a  storm  center  of  agitation,  long  before  it 
was  put  into  operation.  The  ground  upon  which  their 
argument  rings  its  fruitful  charges  is  the  fear  that  when 
the  day  comes  —  as  come  it  must  —  for  the  class  con- 
scious proletariat  to  "  mount  the  barricades  and  fight 
like  tigers "  a  well  ordered  and  loyal  army  may  be 
sufficiently  strong  to  put  down  the  Revolution.  Hence, 
the  Socialist  duty  is  to  weaken  the  defensive  arm  of  the 
nation.     Their   agitators   have   no   scruples   as   to  the 


168  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

means  to  be  employed  since  the  norm  of  their  philosophy 
sets  it  down  that  what  furthers  the  cause  is  moral  and 
what  retards  the  cause  is  immoral.  In  1908  their  most 
proficient  propagandists  began  to  center  opposition  upon 
this  and  that  provision  of  the  Dick  Military  Law. 
Resolutions,  newspaper  articles,  essays  and  editorials  by 
the  hundreds  have  been  written  against  the  law,  while  it 
has  been  made  the  theme  of  thousands  of  lectures  and 
soapbox  talks.  The  'Na.t  Com.  of  the  Socialist  Party 
(Oct.,  1917)  endorsed  the  plan  for  a 

"  National  campaign  of  protest  against  '{he  so-called  Dick 
Military  Law  and  advises  all  divisions  of  our  party  organiza- 
tion to  hold  meetings  for  education  and  protest  .  .  ." 

Their  Official  Bulletin  (Oct.,  1907)  in  ringing  tones 
advises  the  comrades  to  conduct  meetings  with  "  the 
same  vigor  as  characterized  the  Moyer-Haywood  meet- 
tings  "  which  contributed  in  no  slight  degree  to  the 
discharge  of  the  murder  case  against  their  idol  —  "  Big 
Bill "  Haywood.  In  voting  yes  upon  the  proposed 
campa-ign  the  ISTational  Committeeman  of  Lousiana,  Van 
Brook,  says: 

"In  regard  to  protest  against  the  'Dick  Military  Bill' 
will  say  I  do  not  see  how  any  Socialist  could  well  vote 
against  repealing  this  infamous  bill,  when  considering  the 
power  it  gives  the  dominating  class  over  the  rights  of  the 
laboring  class." 

The  Pennsylvania  l^ational  Committeeman,  James 
Maurer,  agrees :  "  I  cannot  think  of  any  better  work 
for  us  Socialists  than  to  hammer  their  fiendish  plot  to 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  169 

pieces."  The  Ohio  National  Committeeman,  Divine, 
rejoices  that  the  Toledo  Central  Labor  Union  was  lined 
up  to  protest  "  ere  this  motion  was  made." 

In  passing  it  is  but  just  to  say  that  very  few  of  the  ^ 
trade  union  bodies  were  inveigled  into  adopting  resolu- 
tions in  protest  to  this  law,  by  the  Socialist  agitators 
within  their  unions.  These  bodies  were  somewhat  in- 
formed by  the  action  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  as  it  had  reported  adversely  about  this  time  upon 
a  resolution  against  the  Dick  Military  Law  at  one  of  its 
national  conventions. 

Perhaps  it  should  not  be  surprising,  since  none  are 
so  blind  as  those  who  refuse  to  see,  that  even  men  from 
Missouri  had  not  demanded  to  be  shown  what  in  fact 
the  provisions  of  the  Dick  Law  are.  Surely  there  had 
been  time  enough  for  thought  for  investigation.  But 
evidently  no  candid  examination  of  the  proposed  bill  was 
made,  although  it  was  thoroughly  discussed  in  Congress 
and  throughout  the  country,  before  its  passage.  Nor 
has  there  been  an  honest  attempt  to  understand  its  con- 
tent since  its  passage  in  1903,  for  denunciation  waxed 
hot  and  furious  up  to  the  time  of  our  entrance  into  the 
world  war.  Which,  of  course,  supplied  Socialism  with 
a  much  more  fruitful  source  of  treasonable  propaganda. 
From  a  multitude  of  data  we  select  quotations  to  show 
how  vehement  Socialist  opposition  is  to  an  eflficient  mili- 
tary system.  The  meaning  is  clear,  since  their  only 
hope  is  in  a  "  Red  Guard." 

In  the  Socialist  State  convention  of  Missouri  (Jeffer- 
son City,  Sept.  13,  1910)  it  was  "  Resolved,  that  we 


170  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

demand  the  repeal  of  the  so-called  Dick  Military  Law 
which,  by  order  of  the  President  of  these  United  States, 
makes  possible  conscript  soldiers  of  free  citizens,  and  is, 
therefore,  against  the  spirit  and  character  of  a  free 
democratic  country."  Of  course,  all  good  citizens  know 
that  this  declaration  is  as  false  as  it  is  unpatriotic.  Be- 
sides, if  lovers  of  democracy  are  not  ready  to  give  their 
lives  in  defense  of  a  free  country,  surely  there  is  no 
security  for  the  blessings  of  peace. 

The  Socialist  Party  in  Convention  (1904)  declared: 
"  By  the  Dick  Militia  bill  liability  to  compulsory  service 
has  been  imposed  upon  every  male  citizen  between  the 
ages  of  18  and  Jf5,  and  that  merely  at  the  caprice  of  the 
President."  (Page  165,  Proceedings,  S.P.,  Nat.  Com., 
May  4,  1914.) 

The  American  Socialist  —  National  oflScial  organ 
of  the  Socialist  Party  (Chicago,  Aug.  15,  1914)  con- 
fuses their  readers  by  asking :  "  Do  you  know  that 
under  the  Dick  military  law  every  able-bodied  male 
citizen  of  the  United  States  over  18  and  under  45  is  a 
member  of  the  National  Guard  '  Reserve  Army,'  and  can 
be  legally  summoned  to  military  service  by  the  president 
without  the  authority  of  Congress?  And  do  you  know 
that  this  is  a  greater  military  power  than  the  head  of 
any  other  government  on  earth  is  given  ?  Do  you  know 
that  the  working-class  of  the  United  States  is  up  against 
the  most  cunning  group  of  capitalists  in  all  the  world  ? 
Think!" 

These  leaders  should  have  known,  but  perhaps  they 
did  not,  that  what  they  call  "the  nigger  in  the  wood- 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  171 

pile  "  namely,  that  universal  liability  to  military  service 
for  every  able-bodied  man  within  specific  age  did  not 
come  into  existence  together  with  their  mental  excite- 
ment. As  a  matter  of  fact  this  section  of  the  law  is  as 
old  as  our  Eepublic  itself.  It  is  the  provision  under 
which  President  Lincoln  called  out  our  troops  during 
the  Civil  War  and  President  McKinley  during  the 
Spanish- American  War.  This  section,  the  law  of  May 
5,  1792,  enacted  during  the  Washington  administration 
reads : 

"EVEEY  ABLE-BODIED  MALE  CITIZEN  OF  THE 
EESPECTIVE  STATES,  KESIDENT  THEREIN,  WHO 
IS  OF  THE  AGE  OF  EIGHTEEN  YEARS,  AND  UNDER 
THE  AGE  OF  FORTY-FIVE  YEARS,  SHALL  BE  EN- 
ROLLED IN  THE  MILITIA."  (Section  1625,  Revised 
Statutes.) 

But  why  should  facts  be  regarded  by  Socialist  propa- 
ganda? Their  mission  is  to  create  what  is  rationally 
unthinkable  — "  a  classless  society."  Yet  the  Ameri- 
can Socialist  would  have  the  comrades : 

"Think!" 

"  This  outrageous  law  was  sneaked  through  both 
houses  and  signed  by  Theodore,  the  best  friend  the  trusts 
ever  had." — (International  Socialist  Review,  Sept., 
1910.)  Yet  current  history  testifies  that  the  matter  was 
several  times  up  before  the  57th  congress,  during  which 
time  copies  of  the  bill  had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of 
leading  military  authorities  and  had  received  their 
unanimous  approval. 


172  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

"TMnTc!" 

"  So  you  see,  brother  workingmen  you  belong  to  what  is 
virtually  the  Standing  Army  of  the  United  States,  and  are 
liable  to  the  call  of  the  President  at  any  moment.  You 
may  be  called  upon  to  go  down  to  Mexico  and  protect  Ameri- 
can property,  though  in  your  '  Own  United  States '  you  are 
not  permitted  to  possess  any,"  says  the  editor  of  the  Com- 
monwealth.    (Everett,  Washington,  Aug.  28,  1913.) 

If  its  readers  were  to  think  they  might  realize  that 
sound  opinion  takes  neither  one  extreme  or  the  other; 
and  if  they  were  to  read,  a  little  history  on  this  point 
they  might  realize  that  American  citizens  have  ever  been 
subject  to  call. 

"  Think "  how  irresponsible  Socialist  speech  is ! 
Yet,  there  is  no  proof  that  they  evolved  from  the  monkey 
as  they  delight  to  believe.     "  Our  Gene  "  Debs  says : 

"  Your  time  may  come  in  America.  Every  man  from  18 
to  Jf5  years  is  a  soldier  whether  you  Tcnow  it  or  not.  The 
Dick  military  law  was  parsed  in  a  surreptitious  manner. 
You  are  not  to  he  consulted  as  to  whether  you  are  killed  or 
not."  (The  California  Social  Democrat,  Los  Angeles,  Feb. 
13,  1915.) 

Even  the  headlines  are  enough  food  for  thought  for 
these  makers  of  proletarian  society : 

"THIS  BEATS  CONSCRIPTION! 

The  Plutes  Put  this  Over  on  You  During  Roose- 
velt's Reign;  Through  the  Aid  of  Senator  Dick 
—  Accordingly;  You  are  Forced  to  Go  to  War; 
If  They  So  Desire  " 

(New  England  Socialist,  Dec.  8,  1915.) 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  1Y3 

While  the  exclamation  "  Every  American  Wage-Slave 
a  Soldier!  "  sets  many  an  embryo  Bolshevik  on  fire  for 
his  cause;  so  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  keep  up  a  con- 
tinual agitation  for  what  is  imagined  to  be  freedom 
from  "  capitalist  rule." 

Yet,  after  all,  the  multitudes  who  follow  after  their 
Socialist  leaders  are,  in  truth,  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning.  They  are  God's  little  ones,  the  little  brothers 
of  those  who  are  given  great  talents  for  organization, 
for  the  production  of  wealth  on  a  vast  scale.  It  is 
because  this  brotherhood  has  been  so  flagrantly  denied 
in  these  our  days  of  luxurious  living  that  invites  this 
Scourge  of  God  to  cleanse  the  State.  Since  it  were 
better  to  have  a  millstone  hanged  about  one's  neck  than 
to  offend  one  of  the  little  ones. 

However,  quite  to  one  side  from  the  perverse  spirit 
cultivated  by  such  opposition  to  a  good  law,  it  illustrates 
clearly  a  characteristic  of  Socialist  propaganda.  The 
flattery  of  ignorance  plays  an  immense  role  in  gathering 
together  this  force  of  revolt.  The  Socialist  leaders  boast 
that  there  are  no  leaders  in  the  movement ;  the  followers 
of  the  leaders  boast  no  less  loudly  that  Socialists  have 
no  leaders !  All  the  while  leaders  strive  to  hold  leader- 
ship and  to  gain  leadership.  So  a  chief  means  of  bring- 
ing converts  into  camp  is  the  flattery  of  the 
working-class  by  their  leaders  that  they  are  destined  to 
create  a  free  society.  And  the  self-flattery  of  the  rank 
and  file  that  they  have  no  leaders  since  they  have  in- 
stituted the  referendum  vote.  To  this  double  and 
twisted  ignorance  and  bad  faith  is  added  the  taunt  of 


m  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

the  leaders  that  the  workers  follow  like  slaves  after  their 
capitalist  masters.  On  the  other  hand  the  workers  hold 
the  lash  of  suspicion  over  their  leaders  —  the  fear  that 
thej  will  go  over  to  the  capitalist  class  in  obedience 
to  self-interest,  the  strongest  motive  that  Socialist 
philosophy  acknowledges.  All  the  while  mistrust 
breeds  mistrust  in  the  sanity  of  things  human.  Truly 
the  blind  lead  the  blind,  since  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
ninety-nine  out  of  the  hundred  take  their  opinions  from 
their  spokesmen.  Not  merely  with  regard  to  the  Dick 
military  law,  but  upon  all  questions  presented  by  those 
who  threaten  the  stability  of  government  throughout 
the  world.  Thus  it  is,  while  leaders  deny,  and  are 
denied,  leadership,  they  flatter  their  followers  and  mount 
up  to  the  dizzy  throne  of  irresponsible  power.  It  is 
said,  with  much  truth,  that  all  the  Bolsheviki  leaders  of 
Eussia  got  their  training  on  the  East  Side  of  New  York 
City.  No  need  to  question  further  —  why  all  this  pro- 
test for  all  these  years  against  the  Dick  Military  Law  ? 
It  is  merely  a  commonplace  event  in  working  for  Social- 
ism since  "  there  is  such  a  thing  as  mutiny."  It  is 
something  to  fulminate  against  —  an  opportunity  to 
indoctrinate  wage-slaves  with  the  spirit  of  class-con- 
scious revolt  against  law  and  order. 

We  shall  place  in  contrast  the  arguments  that  led  up 
to  this  act  of  the  5Yth  Congress.  For  a  well-regulated 
militia  had  been  the  ambition  of  every  President  from 
Washington  to  Roosevelt,  under  whose  administration 
the  Dick  Military  Law  was  enacted. 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  175 

President  Washington  (1  IQJi.) : 

"  The  devising  and  establishing  of  a  well-regulated  militia 
would  be  a  genuine  source  of  legislative  honor  and  a  perfect 
title  to  public  gratitude." 

President  Jefferson  (1808)  : 

"For  a  people  who  are  free,  and  who  mean  to  remain  so, 
a  well-organized  and  armed  militia  is  their  best  security. 
It  is,  therefore,  incumbent  on  us  at  every  meeting  to  revise 
the  condition  of  the  militia,  and  to  ask  ourselves  if  it  is 
prepared  to  repel  a  powerful  enemy  at  every  point  of  our 
territories  exposed  to  invasion.  Some  of  the  States  have 
paid  a  laudable  attention  to  this  subject;  but  every  degree 
of  neglect  is  to  be  found  among  others." 

President  Lincoln  (1861) : 

"  The  recommendation  of  the  Secretary  (of  war)  for  the 
organization  of  the  militia  on  a  uniform  basis  is  a  subject 
of  vital  importance  to  the  future  safety  of  the  country  and 
is  commended  to  the  serious  attention  of  Congress." 

President  Roosevelt  (1901) : 

"  Our  militia  law  is  obsolete  and  worthless.  The  organi- 
zation and  armament  of  the  National  Guard  of  the  several 
States  —  should  be  made  identical  with  those  provided 
for  the  regular  forces.  The  obligations  and  duties  of  the 
guard  in  time  of  war  should  be  carefully  defined. —  It 
is  utterly  impossible  in  the  excitement  and  haste  of  im- 
pending war  to  do  this  satisfactorily  if  the  arrangements 
have  not  been  made  long  beforehand." 

It  was  our  experience  made  in  the  Spanish-American 


176  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

War  (1898)  that  forced  upon  the  attention  of  the  57th 
Congress  the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  old  statutes  of 
1792.  During  the  process  of  mobilization  some  of  the 
volunteer  regiments  were  found  practically  without 
arms  or  equipment.  We  have  need  only  to  say,  that 
the  consequences  of  the  Dick  Military  Law  have  made 
of  our  military  force  one  harmonious  whole  —  a  bul- 
wark of  national  security. 

Even  so,  the  impudence  of  Socialist  propaganda  knows 
no  bounds.  In  "  'War,  ^hai  For?  "  (p.  171)  a  book 
that  Eugene  V.  Debs  calls  "  an  immortal  achievement," 
the  author  —  some  time  vice-presidential  nominee  of  the 
Socialist  Party,  declares  that  he  "  has  urged  capitalist 
editors  all  over 

"  The  United  States  to  publish  the  Dick  law.  He  has  of- 
fered to  pay  for  space  at  liberal  advertising  rates  in  which  to 
print  ten  to  one  hundred  lines  of  this  law.  He  has  not 
succeeded  in  finding  a  capitalist  editor  who  would  thus  reveal 
the  treachery  of  his  class  lurking  in  this  law.  This  law  is 
a  rough-ground  sword  against  the  rousing,  rising  working- 
class  in  the  United  States,  a  law  more  important  to  the  work- 
ingclass  than  any  other  law  passed  since  the  middle  of  the 
nineteenth  century." 

This  unblushing  effrontery  passes  at  par  as  an  un- 
answerable argument  —  a  spur  to  urge  Socialists  on  to 
do  what  they  can  to  promote  the  spirit  of  mutiny  within 
and  to  do  what  they  can  to  prevent  American  citizens 
from  joining  either  the  army  or  the  navy.  It  is  fair 
to  conclude  that  the  letter  from  our  then  Secretary  of 
War  correctly  expressed  the  mind  of  the  country  and 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  177 

that  his  view  of  the  Dick  military  bill,  then  pending, 
has  been  realized. 

"  I  am  confident  that  when  it  is  enacted  and  put  into 
force  the  organization  and  regulation  of  the  citizen  soldiery, 
upon  whom  our  country  must  in  the  main  rely  in  its  future 
wars,  will  be  far  more  efficient  than  it  has  ever  been  before, 
and  that  it  will  give  to  the  United  States  at  a  minimum  of 
expense  a  defensive  power  greater  than  could  be  obtained 
by  the  expenditure  of  a  million  dollars  annually  in  main- 
taining a  larger  standing  army,  and  I  am  also  confident 
that  it  will  greatly  promote  the  practical  importance,  the 
dignity,  and  efficiency  of  the  National  Guard  throughout 
the  United  States. 

"  Sincerely  yours, 
"  (Signed)  Elihu  Root, 
"Secretary  of  War." 

Here  again,  we  point  out  the  proof  that  the  repudia- 
tion of  principles  legitimate  to  organized  society  is 
merely  a  means  to  the  overthrow  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion. As  has  been  seen,  conscription  is  assumed  to  be 
an  outrage  —  a  crime  —  when  it  is  used  in  the  protec- 
tion of  a  nation  —  of  our  own  country.  But,  when  it 
is  used  in  the  interest  of  the  world  revolution  then  it 
is  a  commendable  means  of  securing  complete  power  by 
the  working  class.  In  Russia  —  as  they  imagine,  the 
first  of  all  the  nations  to  fall  under  the  sway  of  the 
red  flag  —  conscription  is  now  not  a  reprobate  principle 
but  rather  "  an  honor  given  only  to  the  toilers."  We 
quote  from  The  Fundamental  Law  of  the  Constitution 
adopted  at  the  5th  All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets 
(July  10,  1918) : 


irs  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

"  For  the  purpose  of  securing  the  working  class  in  the 
possession  of  the  complete  power,  and  in  order  to  eliminate 
all  possibility  of  restoring  the  power  of  the  exploiters,  it  is 
decreed  that  all  toilers  be  armed,  and  that  a  Socialist  Red 
Army  be  organized  and  the  propertied  class  be  disarmed. 

"For  the  purpose  of  defending  the  victory  of  the  great 
peasants'  and  workers'  revolution,  the  Russian  Socialist 
Federated  Soviet  Republic  recognizes  the  duty  of  all  citizens 
of  the  Republic  to  come  to  the  defense  of  their  Socialist 
Fatherland,  and  it,  therefore,  introduces  universal  military 
training.  The  honor  of  defending  the  revolution  with  arms 
is  given  only  to  the  toilers,  and  the  non-toiling  elements 
are  charged  with  the  performance  of  other  military  duties." 

Citizen  Abmy 

In  the  nature  of  the  case  one  must  look  for  the  cause 
of  Socialist  action  to  principles  that  are  in  direct  op- 
position to  those  that  have  ever  and  shall  ever,  prompt 
men  to  acts  of  loyal  and  disinterested  service  to  their 
country.  Otherwise  one  may  not  understand  the  mo- 
tives of  the  men  who  work  for  the  Revolution.  It  is 
no  slight  matter  constantly  to  hold  in  mind  a  false 
concept  of  human  nature  —  that  the  individual  and  the 
race  is  utterly  void  of  an  innate  consciousness  of  right 
and  wrong.  Yet,  this  must  be  done  to  gage  correctly 
the  Socialist  assumption  that  a  series  of  class-struggles 
has  controlled  the  actions  of  men  up  to  the  days  in 
which  we  live.  That  the  pending  class-struggle  is  final, 
because  it  is  expected  to  climax  in  the  overthrow  of 
the  capitalist  class  of  the  whole  world  by  the  working 
class.  During  the  transitional  period,  a  proletarian 
dictatorship  —  such  as  that  of  Lenin  in  Eussia  —  shall. 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  179 

upon  the  ruins  of  private  property  operated  for  profit, 
establish  an  administration  of  industry  by  a  classless 
society.  It  should  thus  be  seen  that  the  Socialist  vision 
reduces  the  moral  force  of  religion  to  the  status  of  super- 
stition and  that  it  would  reduce  the  military  force  to 
impotency  by  converting  the  soldiers  to  its  perverse 
vievs^  of  all  things  human. 

The  citizen  army  has  long  been  a  topic  for  the  Social- 
ist orator.  He  has  appealed  to  popular  sympathy  on 
the  ground  of  lessening  the  burden  of  taxation  due  to  the 
maintenance  of  large  standing  armies  in  continental 
Europe,  and  at  once  to  the  hope  of  his  comrades  of 
arming  the  workers  for  revolt.  One  after  another  their 
international  congresses  have  declared  for  the  "  citizen 
army."     At  Stuttgart  (1907)  it  was  resolved: 

"  The  Congress  sees  in  the  democratic  organization  of 
armies,  as  expressed  in  the  so-called  'citizen  armies,'  in 
place  of  standing  armies,  a  good  guarantee  against  war- 
like attacks  of  one  nation  by  another,  and  against  the  exist- 
ence of  national  differences." 

This  resolve  was  not  meant  to  apply  directly  to  the 
United  States  or  to  Great  Britain,  countries  which 
have  no  standing  armies  in  the  Continental  sense,"  as 
the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Militarism  reported, 
it  was  rather  meant  to  express  the  objective  of  Socialists 
in  general,  as  a  means  to  an  end. 

In  our  own  country,  they  generally  use  the  "  citizens' 
army  " — "  Every  man  a  citizen,  every  citizen  a  sol- 
dier " —  to    connote    the    Swiss   military   system.     In 


180  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practise"  (p.  30)  Morris 
Hillquit  sajs :  "  The  military  system  of  Switzerland  is 
the  Socialist  model  of  existing  military  organizations." 
What  was  dubbed  "  the  pistol  resolution  "  came  be- 
fore the  convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
regularly,  year  after  year.  Victor  Berger,  a  delegate, 
was  its  author: 

"Eesolved,  By  the  twenty-fifth  annual  convention  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  that  we  declare  our  inten- 
tion, and  hereby  instruct  all  affiliated  bodies,  to  hold  abso- 
lutely aloof  from  all  connection  with  the  militia,  until  the 
military  system  in  vogue  in  Switzerland,  or  a  similar  system, 
is  adopted  in  the  United  States." 

To  be  sure,  Mr.  Berger's  resolution  was  defeated  time 
after  time,  as  it  was  presented,  yet,  it  was  deemed  a 
victory  for  Socialism !  Did  it  not  give  Comrade  Berger 
an  opportunity  to  advise  workingmen  "  to  hold  aloof 
from  all  connection  with  the  army  ?  "  Did  not  his  bril- 
liant talk  furnish  copy  for  the  press  ? 

Among  Socialists  it  is  a  common  practise  to  hold 
the  militia  up  to  scorn  before  audiences,  in  their  news- 
papers, pamphlets  and  books,  as  a  strike-breaking  in- 
strument of  the  capitalist  class.  Whether  or  not  the 
community  was  justified  in  calling  for  the  protection  of 
the  militia  during  a  strike  makes  not  the  slightest  dif- 
ference, since  Socialism  does  not  thrive  upon  sincerity. 
Undoubtedly,  the  militia  has  at  times  been  unduly  used 
to  break  the  backbone  of  strikes.  But  such  occasions 
have    been    few    compared    to    those   where    wholesale 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  181 

skughter  of  life  and  destruction  of  millions  of  property 
■would  have  resulted  had  not  an  armed  force  been  on 
guard.  The  Lawrence,  Mass.,  strike  of  1912  is  a  case 
in  point.  We  were  privileged  to  witness  the  good  work 
of  the  old  Massachusetts  Ninth.  But  for  its  presence, 
Haywood,  Ettor,  Giovanatti  and  the  followers  of  the 
"  No  God,  no  master  "  element  would  have  laid  waste 
the  city  and  sent  thousands  of  persons,  unprepared,  to 
death.  There  should  be  no  mistaking  their  intention. 
The  International  Socialist  Review  (Feb.,  1912)  re- 
ports an  address  by  Mr.  Haywood  in  Cooper  Union, 
New  York  City,  delivered  under  the  auspices  of  the 
Socialist  Party  that  typifies  their  revolutionary  senti- 
ments : 

"I  despise  the  law  (tremendous  applause  and  shouts  of 
*  No ! ')  and  I  am  not  a  law-abiding  citizen.  (Applause.) 
And  more  than  that,  no  Socialist  can  be  a  law-abiding  citi- 
zen. (Applause.)  When  we  come  together  and  are  of  a 
common  mind,  and  the  purpose  of  our  mind  is  to  over- 
throw the  capitalist  system,  we  become  conspirators  then 
against  the  United  States  Government.  And,  certainly  it 
is  our  purpose  to  abolish  this  government  (Applause)  and 
establish  in  its  place  an  industrial  democracy  (Applause). 
Now,  we  haven't  any  hesitation  in  saying  that  that  is  our 
aim  and  purpose.  Am  I  correct?  (Tremendous  applause.) 
Am  I  absolutely  correct  when  I  state  this  as  being  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Socialist  party  not  only  in  New  York,  but  in 
the  United  States  and  of  every  nation  in  the  world?  (Ap- 
plause.) " 

To  make  emphatic  Mr.  Haywood's  declaration,  his 
address  was  commended  editorially  by  the  International 


182  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Socialist  Review.  "  To  those  who  want  to  put  an  end 
to  capitalism,  and  who  wonder  whether  the  Socialist 
Party  members  really  mean  what  they  say  when  they 
call  themselves  revolutionists." 

To  make  assurance  doubly  sure  that  "  Big  Bill " 
spoke  the  Socialist  mind  "  straight  out  in  meeting  "  the 
Emergency  Convention  (1917)  five  years  later,  de- 
clared :  "^  The  end  and  aim  of  the  Socialist  party  is 
revolution/'  The  means  to  the  end  is  set  out  in  the 
Bolsheviki  Call  for  an  International  Communist  Con- 
gress (Jan.,  1919)  : 

"  The  first  task  of  the  proletariat  consists  to-day  of  the 
immediate  seizure  of  government  power,  substituting  in  its 
place  the  power  of  proletariat." 

"  The  fundamental  condition  of  the  struggle  is  the  mass 
action  of  the  proletariat,  developing  into  open  armed  attack 
on  the  governmental  powers  of  Capitalism." 

The  expectation  has  been  that  a  citizen  army  would 
supply  the  guns  for  this  "  mass  action  "  against  what- 
soever armed  force  should  come  to  the  defense  of  civil 
society  resting  on  the  natural  rights  of  men,  which 
Socialism  denies.  In  their  fervescent  imagination  the 
Rock  of  Ages  has  been  blasted  once  for  all.  Conse- 
quently any  defense  of  the  principles  of  the  Decalogue  is 
but  an  ignorant  and  vicious  attempt  to  hold  on  to  a 
passing  order  in  the  evolution  of  the  race  from  the  ape 
to  the  superman.  The  State  Constabulary  which  in 
Pennsylvania  has  been  wisely  set  up  to  police  the  rural 
districts  and  to  relieve  the  militia  from  the  disagreeable 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  183 

duty  incident  to  the  protection  of  life  and  property  in 
times  of  strike  is  put  in  the  category  with  the  militia 
—  mere  murderers  for  the  capitalist  class.  It  is  alleged 
not  to  exist  for  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  order,  but 
rather  it  "  is  one  of  the  instruments  of  class  rule." 

Their  case  is  simply  this  —  no  defense  of  any  kind 
is  acceptable  for  the  protection  of  civil  society  that 
recognizes  and  exercises  the  right  of  private  property  as 
natural  to  the  human  constitution.  What  is  wanted  is 
the  Red  Guard  to  aid  the  proletariat  in  getting  posses- 
sion of  private  capital  and  to  defend  its  confiscation  once 
it  has  by  "  right  of  might "  come  into  their  hands. 

Of  course,  the  citizen  army  is  no  new  thing,  it  existed 
in  Jamestown  and  in  Plymouth  many  years  before  its 
adoption  in  Switzerland.  Besides  it  is  advocated  by 
many  persons  for  reasons  quite  contrary  to  those  pro- 
posed by  the  followers  of  Marx,  Engels,  Hillquit  and 
Berger.  Their  idea  is  that  "  each  soldier  should  retain 
his  firearm  with  at  least  two  hundred  rounds  of 
ammunition,  furnished  by  the  government,  in  his 
home." 

The  Socialism  of  To^ay  (K  Y.,  1916,  p.  614), 
written  by  four  persons  of  distinction  amongst  their 
comrades  (William  English  Walling,  J.  G.  Phelps 
Stokes,  Jessie  Wallace  Hughan,  Harry  W.  Laidler), 
frankly  states  that  "  Socialists  always  have  in  mind  the 
great  revolutionary  possibility  in  putting  arms  in  the 
hands  of  every  citizen." 

The  same  subversive  motive  prompts  the  British 
Socialists  to  advocate  a  citizen  army.     We  quote  from 


184  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Brougham  Villiers  of  the  Independent  Lahor  Party. 
(The  Socialist  Review j  London,  Jan.-March,  1915.) 

"  Only  perhaps,  when  the  citizen  army  is  defended  on  the 
ground  that  it  in  time  of  revolution  a  professional  army 
would  fire  on  the  people,  while  a  citizen  army  would  refuse 
to  do  so,  does  the  propaganda  have  any  relation  to  other 
Socialist  ideas." 

"  The  idea  seems  to  be  that  the  people  will  some  day  rise 
in  mass  against  their  oppressors  and  demand  the  downfall 
of  capitalism — .  Probably  in  such  a  case  an  alarmed 
capitalist  government  would  proclaim  martial  law  and  order 
out  the  soldiers  to  suppress  the  rising.  Soldiers  accustomed 
to  barrack  discipline  would  be  more  likely  to  obey  than  those 
of  a  '  citizen '  army,  but  there  is  no  certainty  either  way. 
There  have  been  mutinies  against  intolerable  orders  among 
all  sorts  of  troops,  while  even  the  slackest  militia  discipline 
may  be  enough." 

The  report  of  the  debate  on  militarism  and  national 
defense  by  the  30th  conference  of  the  Social  Democratic 
Party  of  Great  Britain  records  the  point  that  the 
Socialists  of  the  Paris  Commune  —  1871  —  were  able 
to  make  their  stand  because  the  people  had  been  armed. 
Arguing  therefrom  it  was  concluded  that,  as  the  people 
have  the  direct  right  of  insurrection,  with  a  citizen  army 
in  every  country,  free  from  military  law :  ''  Every 
man  would  be  trained  in  the  use  of  arms,  and  when 
the  time  comes  for  them  to  shoot,  every  man  would  he 
able  to  decide  which  way  he  was  going  to  shoot." 

Truly,  good  plans  will  not  work!  In  Switzerland 
more  than  one  opportunity  had  come  for  the  proletariat 
to  decide  which  way  to  shoot.  They  decided  against 
the  Socialists'  way  to  shoot.     Whereupon  the  1915  Con- 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  185 

gress  of  the  Swiss  Socialists  refused  further  support 
to  the  citizen  army.  Now  these  mutinous  grapes  hang 
so  high  that  they  sour  in  the  sun.  After  all,  rifles  in 
every  man's  home  would  be  of  little  use  in  an  insur- 
rection where  Capitalists  have  the  use  of  the  govern- 
ment's machine  guns.  So  it  works  out  that  "  antagon- 
ism to  all  systems  of  national  armament  "  is  proposed. 
After  much  discussion  over  the  "  concoctions  dished  out 
by  Berger  "  year  after  year  in  advocacy  of  the  Swiss 
military  system  the  1916  convention  of  the  Socialist 
Party  resolved :  "  The  proletariat  of  the  world  has  but 
one  enemy,  the  capitalist  class,  whether  at  home  or 
abroad.  We  must  refuse  to  put  into  the  hands  of  this 
enemy  an  armed  force  even  under  the  guise  of  a  '  demo- 
cratic army,'  as  the  worlcers  of  Australia  and  Switzer- 
land have  done." 

No,  this  does  not  denote  a  return  to  loyalty  —  to 
sanity.  It  rather  indicates  that  this  womout  mode  of 
propaganda  is  being  replaced  by  newer  pieces  of  sedi- 
tion. Miss  Jane  Addams  aids  greatly  in  spreading  one 
under  the  ironical  title:  "  Newer  Ideals  of  Peace  "  (p. 
232 ).  What,  indeed,  would  take  place  should  the  prole- 
tariat refuse  to  fight  as  a  capitalist  army  ?  "  That,  the 
government  can  not  put  the  whole  population  in  prison, 
and  if  it  could,  it  would  still  be  without  material  for 
an  army,  and  without  money  for  its  support,  is  an  almost 
irrefutable  argument.  We  see  here  (passive  resistance 
put  into  practise)  at  least  the  beginnings  of  a  sentiment 
that  shall,  if  sufficiently  developed,  muke  war  impossible 
to  an  entire  people." 


180  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

The  Russian  Bolsheviki  are  using  another  —  a  much 
more  forceful  but  not  more  disloyal  —  method  of  up- 
setting the  stability  of  nations.  No  doubt  it  will  soon 
be  communicated  for  use  in  our  own  free  America: 
With  the  demand  for  a  Red  Guard  under  the  dictator- 
ship of  their  four  times  Presidential  nominee  —  Eugene 
Victor  Debs. 

Making  Pervekts  of  Soldiers 

The  demand  for  a  propaganda  directed  especially  to 
the  Army  and  Navy  was  pressed  in  the  1908  National 
Convention  of  the  Socialist  Party  and  it  became  more 
insistent  at  the  Convention  of  1912.  Delegate  John 
Spargo,  submitted  a  resolution  that  met  with  unanimous 
approval  of  the  body: 

"Propaganda  in  the  Army  and  Navy 

"  Whereas,  In  the  class  struggle  the  military  is  often  the 
first  and  always  the  last  resort  of  the  ruling  class;  and 

"  Whereas,  The  army,  the  navy,  the  militia  and  the  police 
offer  a  fertile  field  for  the  dissemination  of  Socialist  teach- 
ings; and 

"  Whereas,  The  growth  of  Socialist  thought  among  the 
armed  defenders  of  capitalism  tends  to  reduce  the  power  of 
the  ruling  class  to  rule  and  outrage  the  working  class,  and 
thus  to  end  the  oppression  and  violence  that  labor  suffers, 

"  Be  it  Resolved,  That  the  N.  E.  Committee  be  instructed 
to  secure  the  services  of  such  a  comrade  or  comrades  as 
have  made  a  special  study  of  war  and  militarism,  and  that 
such  comrade  or  comrades  prepare  special  appropriate  leaflets 
to  distribute  among  soldiers,  sailors,  militia  and  police. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  N.  E.  Committee  publish  such  leaflets 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  187 

and  pamphlets  and  offer  for  sale  through  the  usual  channels, 
and  that  in  addition  an  organized  effort  be  made  for  the 
distribution  of  such  leaflets  among  all  the  armed  defenders 
of  capitalist-class  rule  and  among  all  military  organizations 
and  all  government  homes  for  disabled  soldiers  and  sailors." 
(Indianapolis,  May  16,  1912.) 

Incidental  to  the  adoption  of  this  resolution,  the 
discussion  of  a  bill  just  passed  by  the  Massachusetts 
legislature,  making  it  a  criminal  offense  "  to  talk  anti- 
militarism,"  brought  forth  information  as  to  what  had 
already  been  done  contrary  to  the  Massachusetts  law. 
We  quote  data  from  widely  separated  sections  of  the 
country : 

From  California,  Delegate  Ered.  C.  Wheeler : 

"  Recently  in  speaking  with  a  sailor  on  one  of  the  battle- 
ships, he  told  me  there  were  74  Socialists  upon  that  one 
battleship  and  that  they  had  a  circulating  library  there 
and  that  literature  (Socialist  writings)  was  being  circulated 
there  and  on  other  ships." 

Erom  Washington,  Delegate  Kate  Sadler : 

"I  am  in  favor  of  our  propaganda  reaching  not  only 
the  sailor  but  the  soldier.  I  have  lived  in  a  navy  yard 
town  on  the  Pacific  coast  by  the  name  of  Brennerton.  .  .  . 
We  have  had  applications  for  membership  in  that  local  from 
the  sailors,  and  we  try  as  far  as  we  can  to  organize  the 
boys  and  have  them  organize  a  local  upon  their  battleships. 
At  one  navy  yard  there  is  an  organization  of  100  members 
of  the  Socialist  party.  There  is  no  ground  so  ripe  for 
Socialism  as  upon  the  battleships.  I  have  been  upon  them 
almost  every  Sunday  afternoon,  talking  in  my  small  way, 


188  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

and  I  have  found  the  field  ripe.  Down  in  Vancouver, 
Washington,  I  have  sold  more  literature  to  the  army  boys 
than  I  have  to  the  citizens  of  Vancouver.  Therefore,  I  am 
willing  that  we  should  throw  this  back  in  the  teeth  of  the 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts." 

Erom  Rhode  Island,  Delegate  James  P.  Reid : 

"  I  rise  to  speak  upon  this  resolution.  The  Socialist  .move- 
ment needs  this  propaganda.  In  our  state  I  recall,  not  very 
many  weeks  ago,  something  of  the  arguments  made  on  a 
bill  in  the  Rhode  Island  Legislature,  appropriating  $95,000 
for  an  armory  and  for  an  armed  guard  for  Rhode  Island. 
In  answer  to  the  objections  to  the  bill  a  member  read  a 
tirade  against  Socialism  lasting  one  hour  and  a  half.  The 
point  I  want  to  make  is  this,  that  he  brought  those  points 
conclusively  out.  He  said,  '  Gentlemen,  I  appeal  to  you  to 
support  unanimously  this  proposition,  which  is  for  the  de- 
fense of  this  glorious  country.  There  is  an  important  factor 
that  we  must  consider.  We  need  a  national  guard;  we  need 
a  national  militia.  We  need  it  to  suppress  that  organized 
band  of  traitors.  Dr.  Reid,  Bill  Haywood,  John  M.  Work ' — 
and  he  enumerated  a  lot  more  of  conspirators  — '  and  to  save 
the  country.'  The  capitalists  are  on  their  job.  They  know 
what  they  need.  It  is  simply  force  that  they  need,  and  they 
will  use  it.  I  appeal  to  you  to  pass  unanimously  this  reso- 
lution, and  show  the  capitalist  class  that  the  Socialist  party 
are  also  on  to  their  job.  (Applause.)  "  (Proceedings,  Nat. 
Com.,  S.  P.,  Indianapolis,  May  16,  1912,  p.  85.) 

Long  before  the  law  was  written  the  unwritten  law, 
resting  upon  the  spirit  of  revolt,  had  prompted  strenuous 
attempts  at  perverting  the  soldiers.  The  Appeal  to 
Reason  —  at  one  time  having  a  paid  up  subscription  of 
about   400,000,   not   to  mention   its   enormous  bundle 


THE  AB.MY  AND  THE  NAVY  189 

order  circulation  —  had  so  offended  as  to  cause  an  in- 
vestigation to  be  made  by  the  Navy  League.  Nothing 
could  have  so  stimulated  the  Appeal;  it  gave  an  excuse 
to  prod  its  volunteer  army  "  to  get  busy."  "  Tends  to 
Treason  "  was  proudly  flaunted  as  the  headline  of  an 
article  telling  of  the  investigation  (Feb.  10,  1912). 
Words  were  not  enough !  —  a  picture  of  a  soldier,  sitting 
on  a  log  in  camp  with  his  rifle  resting  on  the  ground, 
oblivious  to  all  else,  reading  the  Appeal,  told  the  whole 
story  at  a  glance.  The  members  of  the  Agitation 
League  had  for  three  years  been  sending  "  five  copies 
of  our  paper  each  week  to  all  reading  rooms  connected 
with  American  army  posts  in  the  United  States  and  its 
possessions  and  to  such  permanent  addresses  of  marines 
as  we  could  secure."  Hereafter,  the  comrades  were 
advised  to  send  sealed  packages  of  papers.  "  They  dare 
not  proceed  against  us  on  the  ground  of  treason  —  be- 
cause it  is  not  treason  to  ask  men  to  vote  the  Social- 
ist iicTcet.  .  .  .  Our  readers  will  send  the  Appeal 
to  the  soldiers  and  sailor  hoys  in  spite  of  the  Army 
and  Navy  League.  These  gold  braids  may  shout 
treason  until  they  are  black  in  the  face!  On  with  the 
dance." 

The  official  organ  —  Weekly  Bulletin  —  reports  suc- 
cess :  ''  Reliable  information  is  at  hand  that  Socialist 
literature  is  more  freely  circulated  than  ever  on  the  war- 
ships of  Uncle  Sam.  On  a  number  of  ships  copies  of 
Kirkpatrick's  book  are  going  the  rounds  and  being  read 
with  interest." 

Meanwhile,    the   exhortation   went   out   to   probable 


190  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

recruits :  "  Don't  enlist  for  Mexican  campaign  until 
you  have  read  —  War,  What  For  ?  "  It  is  needless  to 
suggest  that  this  book  incites  to  treason. 

In  the  story  of  an  Ex-soldier,  Now  Socialist  we  give 
one  of  many  incidents  in  proof  of  the  demoralizing 
effects  of  this  propaganda.  We  quote  from  ^'^  An  Army 
Patriot  Gets  Wise/'  (Anti-Military  Edition  the 
World,  Socialist  weekly. ) 

"  I  wish  to  write  a  few  lines  of  personal  experience. 

"I  soldiered  in  the  artillery  branch  of  the  regular  army. 
Have  been  under  Generals  Funston,  Moore  and  MacArthur. 
Am  now  a  militant  Socialist  and  a  member  of  the  G.  A.  S.  P., 

*  Grand  Army  of  the  Socialist  Party.' 

"  Once  on  a  time  a  fool  notion  led  me  to  enlist  in  the 
artillery  corps  of  the  regular  United  States  army. 

"  Prom  history  and  experience  I  learned  armies  were 
weapons  of  working  class  intimidation  at  home  and  robbery 
and  exploitation  abroad. 

"  Before  I  enlisted   I  had  '  Socialistic   leanings '   of  the 

*  public-ownership '  type.  Before  I  was  discharged  I  had 
Socialist  convictions  of  the  Marxian  type. 

"  One  night,  on  Grant  avenue  in  San  Francisco,  I  heard 
a  soap-boxer  discuss  real  Socialism.  Though  wearing  my 
army  uniform,  I  elbowed  through  the  crowd,  close  to  the 
feet  of  the  speaker.  His  talk  was  a  revelation  to  me.  I 
asked  questions  concerning  the  economic  view  of  the 
army. 

"  On  my  return  to  the  Presidio  military  reservation,  filled 
with  enthusiasm  (the  real  life,  at  last!)  and  carrying  big 
bundles  of  Socialist  propaganda  literature  and  anti-military 
pamphlets,  I  started  to  convert  the  army. 

"  Several  officers  tried  to  have  me  court-martialed  on 
a  charge  of  treason.     The  plot  failed  only  because  I  had 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  191 

a  friend  (an  artillery  captain)  who  stood  by  me  and  helped 
defend  me  from  the  'gentlemen  by  act  of  Congress.' 

"I  was  a  happy  man  when  I  received  my  discharge  from 
the  military  tyranny.  I  am  for  absolute  Socialism  now, 
either  through  force  or  agitation. 

"Arthur  Egos, 
"  Secretary  Local  Watsonville  Socialist  Party  of  California." 

The  same  tactics  are  in  force  in  Europe,  though  not 
in  some  instances  so  brazenly  pursued.  We  have  before 
us  a  copy  of  the  Coming  Nation  (Girard,  Kansas,  June 
17,  1911)  telling  of  the  secret  processes  by  which  the 
Young  Socialist  Guards  spread  propaganda  amongst  the 
Belgian  soldiers.  La  Caserne  (The  Barracks)  accuses 
the  Fatherland  with  lying  and  advises  Socialist  read- 
ing as  a  corrective  for  the  patriotism  of  the  capitalist 
press. 

"  They  tell  us  that  the  army  is  necessary  to  safeguard 
our  country  " — "  Educate  yourself  " —  it  is  "  the  capitalists 
for  whom  alone  armies  are  necessaries.  Read  much  and 
ponder." 

It  was  then  generally  believed  that  no  European  war 
of  consequence  could  take  place,  on  the  assumption  that 
loyalty  to  their  command  was  too  nearly  extinct  in  the 
armies.  Eobert  Hunter  —  an  author  of  international 
fame  —  voiced  this  opinion  freely  in  "  The  Joke  of 
Militarism."  It  was  thought  certain  that  the  armies  of 
Germany,  France,  England  and  elsewhere  were  so  thor- 
oughly imbued  with  "  class  consciousness  "  that  in  case 
of  war  the  soldiers  would  "  Round  about  face  "  and 
shoot   their   officers    and    then    their   economic   rulers. 


192  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

The  "  Joke  "  went  throughout  the  Socialist  press.     It 
reads  in  part  as  follows: 

"  There  may  be  another  great  international  war  some  time. 
I  doubt  it. 

"  The  German  emperor  does  not  fear  the  English  or  the 
French,  or  any  other  nation  one-thousandth  part  as  much 
as  he  fears  his  own  people. 

"  The  French  rulers  are  more  afraid  of  the  French  people 
than  they  are  of  the  English  or  German  armies. 

"  The  American  government  has  nothing  to  fear  from  any 
other  nation  on  earth.  It  knows  perfectly  well  that  if  war 
breaks  out,  it  will  be  because  it  has  incited  war  by  its  own 
provocative  action. 

"  All  these  gigantic  armies  gathered  at  the  borders  of 
the  nations,  looking  fiercely  across  imaginary  lines,  are  pre- 
pared for  one  order  — '  Roundabout  face !  March  on  your 
own  kindred ! ' 

"  Since  the  days  of  the  Commune  the  nations  of  the  world 
have  been  preparing,  not  for  international  wars,  but  for 
civil  wars."  (Anti-Military  Edition,  the  World,  Oakland, 
Calif.,  Mar.  12,  1909.) 

This  pose  was  likewise  taken  in  our  own  country. 
It  was  all  a  matter  of  "  patriots  getting  wise."  With 
a  flourish  of  pride  their  press  reported  the  haling  into 
court  of  one  of  their  national  lecturers  —  Lena  Morrow 
Lewis  —  for  defaming  the  men  in  the  khaki  and  the 
blue.  As  a  rule  "  the  scum  of  society  join  the  army  and 
navy  " : 

"But  there  are  exceptions  to  this;  there  are  good  men  in 
the  army,  and  these  are  getting  their  eyes  open.  If  it  ever 
comes  to  a  crisis  in  this  country  they  will  probably  follow 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  193 

the  example  of  German  soldiers  and  refuse  to  shoot  down 
the  working  class  of  their  own  or  any  other  country." 

The  assumption  of  a  round-about-face  in  case  of  war 
was,  in  fact,  made  in  Germany  and  from  there  it  over- 
flowed to  the  rest  of  the  Socialist  world.  August  Bebel, 
speaking  to  his  German  constituency  (1911),  boasted: 

"  Our  rulers  think  that  the  same  enthusiasm  will  reveal 
itself  in  a  future  war  as  in  1870.  (A  voice :  '  Not  likely.') 
I  should  think  so.  They  have  made  their  calculation  with- 
out the  host,  and  the  host  are  we!  And  we  are  growing 
mightier  every  day,  like  the  ancient  Christians.  ...  I  do 
not  believe  that  we  shall  ever  get  a  Socialist  Csesar,  but 
that  we  are  getting  more  and  more  Socialist  soldiers  is  known 
to  all  the  sparrows  on  the  roof.  The  gentlemen  above  us 
may  find  this  unpleasant,  but  this  is  so.  We  have  whole 
regiments,  whose  brigades  from  the  big  towns  —  they  are  all 
Socialists.  Inquire  among  the  engineers  among  the  artillery, 
go  wherever  intelligence  is  needed,  and  you  will  find  —  all 
Socialists." 

It  was,  however,  Bebel  who  had  counted  without  his 
host.  Eor  unlike  Christians,  ancient  or  modem.  Social- 
ists make  their  calculations  upon  a  false  human  nature. 
We  shall  grant  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  mutiny. 
But  the  opposite  characteristic  in  human  nature  is  the 
normal  one.  In  this  case,  the  natural  virtue  of  patriot- 
ism —  that  sets  love  and  defense  of  country  next  below 
love  and  defense  of  God  —  was  not  reckoned  with. 
Hence,  while  Socialist  agitation  does  arouse  the  spirit 
of  hatred  and  revolt  to  a  pitch  before  unknown,  as  the 
Russian  Bolshevist  terror  far  outruns  that  of  the  terror 


194  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

of  the  French  Revolution,  there  is  no  danger  that  ever 
the  sanity  of  men  can  be  so  submerged  as  to  effect  a 
"  general  mutiny  simultaneous  with  a  general  strihe  " 
throughout  the  v^^orld.  It  is  then  to  human  nature  as 
it  is  in  truth,  made  in  the  image  of  God,  but  injured 
through  the  fall  of  man  —  that  Europe  was  saved  from 
complete  suicide  in  the  recent  war.  We  may  thank  God 
alone  for  the  return  to  right-reason  by  vast  numbers  of 
men  who  in  Germany,  Austria,  Erance,  Italy  and  Eng- 
land had  been  taught  by  Socialist  propaganda  to  right- 
about-face and  fire  upon  their  officers  rather  than  to 
shoot  at  the  proletariat  of  the  opposing  armies.  For  the 
Marxian  hope  of  a  world  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat 
collapsed  when  the  German  Social  Democrats  rallied  to 
the  support  of  their  government  in  1914  —  once  again 
the  point  of  the  revolution  was  broken.  The  Inter- 
national staggered  and  fell. 

But,  it  left  in  its  wake  horror  beyond  human  imagi- 
nation; Russia  was  beaten  flat  to  the  ground.  The 
Socialist  power  to  destroy  should  be  a  warning  to  those 
in  our  country  who  grind  the  face  of  the  poor  and  by 
their  wealth  corrupt  our  free  citizenry.  For  such 
destruction  of  hope  spreads  that  despair  that  made  in 
Russia  a  most  fertile  soil  for  the  propaganda  of  Social- 
ism to  strike  root  and  pass  on  into  the  logical  deeds  of 
Bolshevism. 

It  should  be  kept  in  mind  by  us  all,  that  the  scheme 
of  the  "  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat,"  hatched  in 
Germany  by  Karl  Marx,  was  worked  out  into  its  practi- 
cal application  by  Daniel  De  Leon  here  in  our  own 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  195 

America.  Moreover,  it  was  in  New  Work,  after  having 
been  instructed  by  keen  minds  utterly  void  of  Christian 
culture,  that  the  Trotskys  learned  how  to  do  the  deed. 

Soldiers  Babked  from  Membebship 

It  is  the  unwritten  law  of  the  Socialist  movement  that 
soldiers,  especially  those  who  volunteer,  shall  be  refused 
membership  in  their  organizations.  This  general  per- 
suasion has  been  tested  upon  many  occasions,  generally 
with  the  result  that  the  unwritten  law  was  enforced. 
In  answer  to  the  Socialist  Labor  Party  local  of  San 
Antonio,  Texas,  regarding  the  admission  of  soldiers  into 
their  organization,  the  National  Secretary  —  Paul  Au- 
gustine, replied: 

"  While  there  is  no  constitutional  provision  against  it, 
still  there  is  an  unwritten  law  that  denies  soldiers  and 
militiamen  admission  into  the  party.  In  countries  where 
the  workers  are  forced  into  military  service,  the  status  of 
such  applicants  takes  on  a  different  color,  but  here  where 
service  is  purely  voluntary  it  is  different." 

The  State  Constitution  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  New 
Jersey  provides  that  "  no  voluntary  member  of  the  State 
Militia  shall  be  eligible  for  membership/'  The  Social- 
ist Party  of  Connecticut  has  a  similar  provision;  with 
the  addition  "  that  any  party  member  now  belonging  to 
the  militia  must  resign  at  the  end  of  his  term  of  service 
or  be  expelled  from  the  Socialist  party."  The  Socialist 
Party  of  the  State  of  New  York  rejected  the  application 
for  membership  by  a  soldier   (Call,  Oct.   11,   1911). 


196  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Many  other  divisions  of  the  national  movement  have 
taken  like  action.  Dr.  Charles  E.  H.  Graeb  was  unani- 
mouslv  expelled  from  the  Socialist  Party  of  Colorado 
upon  his  refusal  to  resign  from  the  ISTational  Guard. 
Charles  Stevenson  was  unanimously  ordered  from  his 
seat  on  the  political  party  town  committee  of  Clinton, 
Mass.  So  vigorously  is  this  policy  carried  out  that 
the  entire  local  of  the  Socialist  party  of  Waltham,  Mass., 
was  expelled,  by  the  Massachusetts  State  Committee, 
for  its  refusal  to  recall  one  of  its  members  —  also  a 
member  of  the  militia  —  who  had  been  elected  to  a  city 
office.  The  National  official  organ  —  The  Worker, 
New  York,  editorially  endorsed  the  suspension  in  no 
uncertain  words. 

"  When  a  local  so  flagrantly  violates  party  discipline  in  so 
important  a  matter  as  that  of  the  attitude  of  the  party  toward 
the  militia,"  the  action  of  the  State  Committee  should  be 
upheld  by  all  loyal  Socialists. 

In  discussing  this  event,  the  New  YorTc  Call  answers 
an  inquirer: 

"  It  is  not  proper,  according  to  Socialist  principles,  for 
any  workingman  to  join  the  army  or  navy.  Both  of  these 
are  the  tools  of  the  ruling  class  and  used  to  advance  their 
own  interests.  The  working  class  has  nothing  for  which 
to  shed  its  blood.  Profit  is  the  only  god  which  still  demands 
life  as  a  sacrifice." 

Erom  testimony  to  be  found  in  the  New  Yorh  Call 
(Feb.  12,  1917,  only  two  months  before  we  entered  the 
world  war)  it  may  be  seen  that  love  of  country  and  vol- 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  197 

untary  enlistment  in  defense  of  American  principles  was 
regarded  as  an  offense  to  the  Socialist  party  by  its  mem- 
bers. Following  the  decisions  of  their  National  admin- 
istration to  "  call  out  members  joining  the  army  "  it  was 
reported : 

"  In  general  meeting  Socialist  members  of  Manhattan  de- 
cided yesterday  to  reaffirm  the  position  taken  by  the  national 
organization  to  expel  all  members  voluntarily  enlisting  in 
the  Army  and  Navy." 

One  week  later,  the  Brooklyn  division  of  Socialists  an- 
nounced their  hostility  to  our  country : 

"  In  general  meeting  of  the  Socialists  of  Brooklyn  it  was 
definitely  decided  that  all  members  of  the  local  will  be 
automatically  expelled  from  the  party  if  they  join  any  mili- 
tary organization."     (Call.  Feb.  19,  1917.) 

Even  the  exclusion,  from  their  membership,  of 
soldiers  and  sailors,  did  not  satisfy  the  most  numerous 
division  of  the  Socialist  Party  of  Boston.  Their  rejec- 
tion of  members  went  much  further.  To  quote  New 
York  Call  1917)  : 

"  The  Boston  Lettish  Branch  2  at  its  regular  meeting 
in  February  adopted  unanimously  the  following  resolution; 

"  Every  member  of  this  organization,  of  either  sex,  will 
be  expelled  if  they  join  voluntarily  the  army,  navy,  militia 
or  any  other  military  organization,  including  the  govern- 
ment's Eed  Cross,  military  hospitals  or  any  private  organiza- 
tions which  are  supporting  military  operations." 

This  question  addressed  to  the  American  people  seems 
pertinent:     Since  no  public  comment  appeared  resent- 


198  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

ing  this  repudiation  by  Boston  Socialists  of  the  duties 
of  citizenship;  with  its  assault  upon  humane  action, 
shall  we  conclude  that  we  are  living  in  a  fool's  paradise 

—  waiting  for  the  Bolsheviki  to  overwhelm  our  civili- 
zation ? 

The  case  is  worse  yet,  for  the  same  hostility  that  is 
manifested  by  the  Socialist  movement  to  membership  in 
the  army  and  navy  is  also  manifested  in  those  trade 
unions  that  are  dominated  by  Socialist  psychology.  Es- 
pecially is  this  the  case  in  the  Hebrew  trade  unions; 
they  are  dyed-in-the-wool  Red.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to 
note  that  although  at  one  time  the  Socialist  members 
in  the  United  Mine  Workers'  Union  —  400,000  strong 

—  succeeded  in  getting  the  upper  hand  in  its  manage- 
ment —  and  legislated  against  membership  in  the 
militia  —  this  great  union  has  since  returned  to  the 
American  standard  of  trades'  unionism.  Yet,  it  left 
behind  all  too  many  who  still  rejoice  that  its  most 
famous  member  —  John  Mitchell  —  was  compelled  to 
withdraw  from  the  ISTational  Civic  Eederation  because, 
forsooth,  that  body  advocated  harmonious  relationship 
between  employers  and  employees. 

Not  so  with  the  I.  W.  W. !  no  repentance  for  folly 
and  disloyalty  by  those  who  with  blasphemy  and  anarchy 
flaunt  the  motto  —  No  God,  No  Master.  Right  reason 
was  challenged  at  the  first  convention  of  The  Industrial 
Workers  of  the  World  (Chicago,  June  27,  1915)  and 
nothing  since  has  changed  their  defiance  of  law  and 
order.  Among  the  organizers  of  the  I.  W.  W.  appear 
the  names  of  the  most  noted  Socialists  of  that  time  — 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  199 

Daniel  De  Leon,  Eugene  V.  Debs,  William  D.  Hay- 
wood, "  Mother  "  Jones,  A.  M.  Simons,  Ernest  Unter- 
man,  Frank  Bohn,  David  C.  Coates,  and  others  of 
national  importance.  We  quote  from  resolutions 
adopted : 

"  Whereas,  The  present  form  of  capitalism  is  increasing 
organized  violence  to  perpetuate  the  spirit  of  despotism ;  and 

"  Whereas,  The  result  of  this  spirit  will  be  the  further 
degradation  and  oppression  of  the  working  class;  therefore, 
be  it 

"  Resolved,  That  we  condemn  militarism  in  all  its  forms 
and  functions,  which  are  jeopardizing  our  constitutional 
rights  in  the  struggle  between  capitalists  and  laborers ;  and  be 
it  further 

"  Resolved,  That  any  person  joining  the  militia  or  accept- 
ing position  under  sheriffs  and  police  powers  or  as  members 
of  detective  agencies  or  employers'  hirelings  in  times  of 
industrial  disturbance,  shall  be  forever  denied  the  privilege 
of  membership  in  this  organization." 

During  the  discussion  a  more  daring  breach  of  civil 
faith  was  proposed.  It  was  argued  that  if  every  mem- 
ber of  organized  labor  were  also  a  member  of  a  militia 
company,  armed  with  the  best  weapons  known,  a  coup 
d'etat  would  result  and  "  such  outrages  as  occurred  in 
Colorado  recently  would  never  occur  again  in  our 
history." 

EXPEKJENOE    IN    CoTJP    d'EtAT    ThAT    EaILED 

Delegate  David  C.  Coates,  Chairman  of  the  Com- 
mittee on  Resolutions  —  brought  forth  objections  to  this 
plan  for  getting  control  of  superior  weapons.     Experi- 


200  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

ence  had  shown  that  the  plan  proposed  was  not  feasible : 
About  "  five  years  ago  we  deliberately  planned  to  cap- 
ture the  militia  of  Colorado  "  — 

"  We  succeeded,  I  say,  so  far  that  just  as  soon  as  the 
next  administration  came  into  power  they  disbanded 
every  one  of  our  companies  of  militia;  that  is  what  they 
did.  And  they  disbanded  them  for  no  other  reason  than 
that  they  were  members  of  organized  labor  and  unfit  to 
do  duty  to  the  State  of  Colorado  under  such  circum- 
stances (Applause).  That  is  going  to  be  your  experi- 
ence if  you  try  to  capture  the  militia/' 

Further  experience  in  attempting  to  subvert  the 
armed  force  was  made  in  St.  Louis.  The  story  is  re- 
lated in  "  The  Socialist  Party  Official  Bulletin  "  (No. 
12).  The  plan  was  to  turn  the  Sheriff's  posse  from  its 
legitimate  purpose  —  the  keeping  of  the  peace  —  to  the 
aid  of  Socialist  propaganda  during  a  strike.  The  result 
was  a  complete  demoralization  of  the  Sheriff's  force; 
with  the  dead  men  as  the  evidence  of  the  seditious  under- 
taking. Moreover,  it  was  the  Socialists  themselves  who 
told  the  vicious  tale  while  boasting  of  the  credit  due  to 
their  clever  comrade  Hoehn.  So  it  was  that  when  next 
election  time  came  that  the  leader  in  this  untoward 
event  —  G.  A.  Hoehn  —  editor  of  Labor  and  of  the  Ar- 
beiter  Zeitung  —  was  pictured  in  an  illustrated  circular 
—  sent  broadcast  —  as  a  deputy  sheriff  standing  with  a 
gun  over  the  prostrate  body  of  a  strike  victim. 

The  entire  Socialist  element  of  St,  Louis  came  to 
"  Comrade  Hoehn's  "  defense.  His  was  the  virtue,  not 
the  crime,  of  the  occasion.     An  official  statement  was 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  201 

unanimously  adopted  at  "  the  most  largely  attended 
meeting  ever  held  by  the  Socialist  Party  of  St.  Louis," 
repelling  the  alleged  libel  and  asserting  that  the  de- 
moralization of  the  sheriff's  forces  was  "  to  the  credit 
of  Comrade  Hoehn."  Quotations  from  the  official  state- 
ment that  was  intended  to  refute  the  arguments  made  in 
the  circular  letter  against  their  leader,  will  clearly  show 
the  perverse  state  of  the  Socialist  mind. 

"  To  all  this  misinformation  we  answer : 

"  1.  That  Hoehn  was  a  voluntary  member  of  the  posse  and 
courted  the  subixEna  in  pursuance  of  a  deliberate  plan  to 
assist  the  strikers. 

"  2.  That  said  plan  was  first  submitted  to  members  of 
the  strikers'  committee,  who,  fearful  of  the  consequences 
of  the  radical  proposition  by  Comrade  Hoehn,  could  not  be 
induced  to  recommend  it  favorably  to  their  union. 

"  3.  Hoehn,  failing  to  secure  an  organized  carrying  out  of 
his  plan,  did  as  an  individual  what  he  had  sought  to  have 
2,000  or  more  strikers  do  along  with  him. 

"4.  Now,  what  was  the  plan?  Simply  to  get  the  3,000 
riot  guns  into  the  hands  of  undoubted  friends  and  adopt 
such  tactics  as  would  have  made  for  real  '  law  and  order.' 
Unquestionably  this  would  have  been  called  '  treason  and 
conspiracy'  against  the  state,  but  this  did  not  daimt  Com- 
rade Hoehn. 

"  5.  Hoehn  would  rot  in  jail  before  he  would  do  voluntary 
or  involuntary  service  as  a  sheriff's  deputy  against  the 
proletariat. 

"  6.  Hoehn  was  —  discharged  after  a  somewhat  exciting 
time  in  the  barracks. 

"  7.  To  the  credit  of  Comrade  Hoehn,  let  it  be  known 
that  the  agitation  carried  on  by  him  and  a  few  union  men 
during  the  short  time  of  two  days  so  demoralized  the  sheriff's 


202  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

forces  that  all  companies  on  the  floor  occupied  by  Hoehn's 
company  were  dissolved  after  wholesale  dismissals.  Had  the 
strike  committee  been  bold  enough  to  adopt  Hoehn's  plan 
the  history  of  the  strike  might  not  now  include  a  massacre 
of  defenseless  workmen." 

It  is  too  true  that  neither  conspiracy  nor  treason 
daunt  those  who  officially  declare  that  "  The  Social 
Revolution,  not  political  office,  is  the  end  and  aim  of  the 
Socialist  Party."  But,  while  the  Emergency  Conven- 
tion by  the  Socialist  party  may,  even  in  war  time,  be 
trusted  to  say  what  it  means  in  the  open  it  should  be  a 
marvel  that  our  country  is  so  tolerant  as  to  permit 
treason  and  conspiracy  to  flourish  year  after  year  in 
the  bright  light  of  day. 

In  passing,  it  is  our  privilege  to  note  that  credit  is 
due  to  the  Street  Railway  Men's  Union  of  St.  Louis  for 
their  resistance  to  the  appeal  to  take  a  part  in  this 
treacherous  conduct,  especially  since  the  labor  movement 
of  their  city  was,  and  still  is,  dominated  by  Socialist 
psychology. 

The  Ballot  Too  Slow 

Impatience  ever  was  the  tag  of  men  lacking  wisdom ! 
It  is  contended  that  the  process  of  controlling  the  State 
and  by  its  power  the  command  of  the  armed  force  by 
"  the  dropping  of  pieces  of  paper  in  a  ballot  box  "  is 
altogether  too  slow.  It  contents  those  Socialists  who 
believe  themselves  to  be  the  fate-elected  agents  to  over- 
throw the  capitalist  state  —  gently,  sweetly,  slowly  as 
the  glacier  transformed  the  surface  of  the  earth  —  by 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  203 

the  gradual  capture  of  every  official  position  and  so  on 
one  fine  day  set  up  that  one-class  society  where  the 
super-man  shall  dwell  in  perfect  harmony  with  super- 
man. These  are  of  the  pink  tea,  the  parlor  variety,  but 
for  the  red-reds  their  battle  cry  is  "  Not  Evolution  but 
Revolution." 

Besides,  the  Marxians  have  seen  very  many  of  their 
at  first  madly  in  earnest  comrades  tamed  down  when 
their  experience  has  brought  them  face  to  face  with 
the  actual  realities  —  the  responsibilities  of  parlia- 
mentary bodies.  Surely,  common  sense  is  the  last  thing 
that  Socialism  thrives  upon.  So  it  is  that  Marxian  im- 
patience, grounded  in  unreason,  and  Marxian  resent- 
ment at  the  returning  sanity  of  members  who  are  elected 
to  political  responsibility,  leads  to  the  formation  of 
the  I.  W.  W.  and  other  labor  bodies  who  logically  put 
into  practise  their  anarchistic  principle  of  "  direct  ac- 
tion." Under  the  whip  of  Hot  Haste  an  article  ap- 
peared in  the  Intei^national  Socialist  Review  (April, 
1908,  pp.  610-611)  from  which  we  quote  the  author  — 
Maurice  E.  Eldridge : 

"  The  tactics  employed  by  the  Socialist  party  at  present 
aims  at  the  capturing  of  the  powers  of  government  through 
political  action, —  and  if  this  policy  is  to  be  adhered  to, 
the  capitalists  are  really  in  no  immediate  danger  of  losing 
control  of  the  industrial  and  political  situation.  But  suppose 
the  Socialist  party  with  its  half  a  million  votes  should 
change  its  tactics  and  begin  secretly  to  organize  military 
companies.  We  have  many  party  members  who  have  had 
military  training  either  in  the  regular  army  or  militia  of 
the  country  or  of  some  European  country,  and  it  is  certain 


204  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

that  a  nvimber  of  first  rate  strategists  could  be  quickly  de- 
veloped. There  is  already  a  sufficient  number  of  party 
members  in  many  of  the  industrial  centers  of  America,  if 
they  were  properly  organized  and  instructed,  to  swoop  down 
upon  the  military  garrisons  that  are  situated  in  the  out- 
skirts of  cities,  surprise  the  sleepy  sentinels  on  guard,  pour 
into  the  barracks  where  the  soldiers  sleep  and  capture  the 
gun  racks.  If  properly  planned  and  executed,  the  battle 
might  be  won  without  the  giving  of  a  single  shot.  Away 
from  the  industrial  centers  of  the  country  there  are  not 
half  a  dozen  regiments  of  soldiers  and  these  would  stand  but 
a  small  chance  against  a  half  million  determined  rebels." 

There  were  a  few  of  these  "  determined  rebels,"  who 
had  sworn  allegiance  to  the  United  States  army,  that 
determined  to  follow  the  orders  of  their  intellectual  su- 
periors  —  the  scribes  of  the  Socialist  press.  The  latest 
act  of  disloyalty  ever  gives  the  signal  for  bettering  the 
instruction  to  "  determined  rebels,"  wherever  they  are 
found.  So  there  is  an  endless  round  of  propaganda, 
swirling  down  to  the  center  of  destruction,  inciting  dis- 
obedience, desertion,  and  rebellion,  not  stopping  at  mur- 
der where  it  will  spread  the  poison  of  the  revolution. 
John  Kenneth  Turner,  George  Allen  England  and  other 
ideological  scribblers  of  note  flooded  their  press  with 
the  maltreatment  of  five  Socialist  soldiers  who  had  been 
court-martialed  and  sent  to  prison  at  Fort  Stevens.  All 
this  commotion  was  under  the  spur  of  loyalty  to  the 
cause;  yet,  in  the  meantime,  subscriptions  to  their 
papers  were  gathered.  The  articles  complain  that 
"  Comrade  Coifman,"  one  of  five  had  only  preached  the 
"  Socialist  interpretation  of  war."     "  He  preached  anti- 


THE  AEMY  AND  THE  NAVY  205 

patriotism,  and  anti-militarism  " —  while  in  the  army. 
Since  Socialists  have  abrogated  the  Decalogue  how  in- 
nocent is  this  defense.  But,  the  self-confessed  guilty 
party  is  equally  innocent  in  his  own  mind.  We  quote 
from  an  interview  given  by  Private  Waldo  H.  CoflFman. 
(Appeal  to  Reason,  April  19,  1913.) 

"  What's  the  good  of  being  in  the  army  unless  it  is  to 
stir  up  trouble?  No  man  that's  a  man  can  join  the  army 
and  expect  an  honorable  discharge." 

Mr.  Turner  takes  consolation  from  the  event  as  mark- 
ing off  a  notable  step  towards  their  goal: 

"  When  Socialism  becomes  an  issue  at  any  army  post,  it 
may  be  properly  said  to  mark  an  era  in  the  advance  of  the 
movement  in  this  country.  ...  I  believe  that  there  is  just 
now  being  presented  to  the  United  States  its  first  notable 
instance  of  a  Socialist  struggle  inside  the  very  dead-line 
of  the  capitalistic  citadel.  I  refer  to  the  case  of  Waldo  H. 
Coffman,  who  is  being  prosecuted  at  Fort  Stevens,  Ore.,  for 
the  crime  of  thinking  —  and  talking  —  Socialism." 

This  irresponsible  attitude  towards  thinking  and  talk- 
ing was  acclaimed  as  the  acme  of  wisdom  by  hundreds 
who  think  treason  is  loyalty,  so  perverse  is  their  mental 
attitude.  Fifty-one  citizens  of  Sedan,  Kansas,  signed  a 
letter  of  protest  that  was  sent  to  Washington, —  com- 
plaining that  "  soldiers  are  being  persecuted  for  their 
open  avowal  of  and  propaganda  work  for  Socialism,  in 
the  military  post  at  Fort  Stevens  "  (N.  Y.  Call,  July 
29,  1913).  Never  did  the  cockle,  sowed  over  the  wheat, 
grow  so  desperately  fast: 


206  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  The  gage  of  battle  has  been  thrown  down. 

"  Will  you  submit  to  this  dastardly  outrage  ? 

"  Is  freedom  of  thought  to  be  wiped  out  in  this  free  land 
of  ours? 

"We  have  snatched  up  the  gage  of  battle  and  stand  forth 
for  the  conflict. 

"  We  will  reveal  the  cruel,  barbaric  militarism  in  a  series 
of  articles. 

"  Don't  miss  a  word. 

"  Let  all  respond. 

"  Send  in  your  bundle  orders."  (Appeal  to  Reason,  April 
19,  1913.) 

The  records  of  the  court-martial  and  conviction 
shovred  that  the  five  Socialist  soldiers  had  reviled  their 
officers  in  language  too  foul  to  print ;  they  had  referred 
to  the  death  of  Vice-President  Sherman  in  a  disrespect- 
ful and  shocking  manner ;  they  declared  that  in  case  of 
war  they  would  "  sneak  off  "  ;  they  had  assisted  privates 
to  desert ;  they  had  declared  the  flag  of  the  United  States 
to  be  an  emblem  of  slavery ;  they  talked  of  the  dynamit- 
ing of  the  Los  Angeles  Times'  Building  and  the  re- 
sultant loss  of  life  and  property  as  proper  and  just. 

These  deservedly  convicted  men  were  the  subject  of 
issue  after  issue  of  the  Socialist  press.  Their  "  class- 
conscious  "  deeds  fired  the  dizzy  brains  of  many  men 
with  a  lurid  hate  of  authority  and  set  up  a  raving  desire 
to  abrogate  law  and  order  —  forsooth,  in  the  interest 
of  human  advancement.  So  laudable  is  desertion,  in 
their  morbid  view,  that  "  The  Deserter "  is  put  into 
verse  by  S.  A.  De  Witt  {'N.  Y.  Call  Aug.  17,  1913) 
to  make  men  "  dare  to  break  their  pledge."     These  two 


THE  ARMY  AND  THE  NAVY  207 

columns  surely  lead  over  the  brink  of  despair.     We 
quote  the  last  two  stanzas : 

'Tis  not  enough  that  armored  hulls  are  built, 
With  money  coined  from  human  flesh  and  soul, 
And  armies  armed  and  clothed  and  housed  and  fed, 
For  which  we  pay  in  rent  and  tax  and  toll: 
'Tis  not  enough  that  they  will  brazen  lie. 
And  teach  our  youth  to  glory  in  their  ships  — 
That  armaments  are  bought  to  guard  the  flag 
To  which  they  swear  allegiance  with  their  lips: 
To  guard  our  flag  and  native  land,  they  say : 
Their  flag  and  land  —  not  ours  —  therein  the  Lie  — 
But  we  are  dupes,  and  easily  forgive  — 
Aye,  even  when  they  teach  and  falsify. 

But  God!  to  buy  from  any  man  his  years, 
And  make  him  serve  and  bind  him  to  his  task. 
When  brain  and  heart  and  life  in  pain  rebels  — 
And  God  is  silent !  —  then  tear  off  the  mask  — 
And  lo !  there  is  no  God  —  'tis  vain  to  ask ! 

There  should  be  not  the  slightest  doubt  about  the  fact 
that  treason  has  ever  been  the  open  policy  of  the  Social- 
ist movement  in  this  country.  The  Socialist  Party 
officially  recommends  as  a  "  masterpiece  of  revolution- 
ary literature  "  War,  What  For?  —  From  this  mine  of 
"  mental  dynamite  "  we  quote  (Preface  p.  7,  Lafayette, 
O.,  1910): 

"  The  working  class  men  inside  and  outside  the  army  are 
confused. 

"  They  do  not  understand. 
"  But  they  will  understand. 


208  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  And  When  They  Do  Understand,  their  class  loyalty  and 
class  pride  will  astonish  the  world.  They  will  stand  erect 
in  their  vast  class  strength  and  defend  —  Themselves.  They 
will  cease  to  coax  and  tease ;  they  will  make  demands  — 
unitedly.  They  will  desert  the  armory;  they  will  spike 
every  cannon  on  earth;  they  will  scorn  the  commander;  they 
will  never  club  nor  bayonet  another  striker;  and  in  the  legis- 
latures of  the  world  they  will  shear  the  fatted  parasites 
from  the  political  and  industrial  body  of  society." 

Since  no  one  will  presume  to  question  the  world-stand- 
ing of  Karl  Kautsky  as  an  authority  on  Socialism  it 
shall  suflSce  to  set  out  his  academic  manner  of  corrupting 
the  armed  forces  of  every  country  under  the  sun.  To 
quote :  "  Militarism  can  only  he  overthrown  hy  render- 
ing the  military  itself  faithless  to  the  rulers." 

We  submit  that  upon  the  evidence  we  have  presented, 
no  man  can  deny  that  out  of  their  own  mouth  Socialism 
stands  self-convicted  of  the  sustained  determination  to 
be  disloyal  to  the  State:  That  the  data  herein  pre- 
sented is  sufficient  to  convict  Socialists  of  propagating 
doctrines  and  defending  acts  that  encourage  disobedi- 
ence to  and  defi-ance  of  rightful  command :  That  sabot- 
age, desertion  and  mutiny  is  counseled  and  applauded: 
That  these  are  the  gravest  crimes  that  can  be  committed 
against  the  state.  Is  not  this  course  a  personal  insult 
to  loyal  men  —  soldiers  —  marines  and  police  —  who 
stand  ready  when  need  calls  and  give  up  their  lives  that 
peace  with  liberty  may  be  the  lot  of  all  ?  Is  not  this 
a  case  that  every  sober-minded  man  should  make  his 
own  that  all  members  of  this  nation  may  go  about  their 
affairs  in  safety  and  security?     Should  not  every  man 


THE  AKMY  AND  THE  NAVY  209 

now  make  his  choice  as  between  human  reason  —  love 
and  justice  —  and  that  of  murder,  rape  and  chaos? 

But  to  whom  shall  we  go  ? 

Ah !  those  who  do  not  know  may  well  be  directed  to 
the  Socialists  themselves.  They  know,  and  by  their 
implacable  hatred  of  the  Pope  they  inform  all  the  world 
where  the  leader  in  the  world  is  that  shall  calm  the 
bold  winds  and  the  raging  sea  of  human  passion. 

Is  it  any  wonder  that  Socialists  hate  the  Catholic 
Church  ?  She  holds,  ever  has  held  and  ever  shall  hold, 
that  the  denial  of  God's  authority  sets  up  the  reign  of 
might  over  right.  When  men  forget  God  a  despotic  will 
holds  the  whip  of  tyranny  over  the  many  and  fear,  not 
justice,  keeps  the  peace  where  men  are  slaves. 

But  Socialists  would  have  the  multitude  —  the  great 
majority  and  the  few  —  forget  God.  They  would  set 
up  a  one-class  rule  —  the  might  of  the  many  against 
the  might  of  the  few.  Since  God  is  denied  nght  is  de- 
nied.  What  then,  in  logic,  should  hinder  the  bare- 
handed might  of  the  few,  from  fighting  to  the  death  of 
civilization  itself  ?  Nothing !  Nothing  save  the  Bride 
of  Christ  who  holds  even-handed  justice  between  the 
classes  and  the  masses. 

By  the  Sacrament  of  Confirmation,  Catholics  are  sol- 
diers of  Christ,  they  are  anointed  that  they  may  have 
courage,  as  against  the  world,  the  flesh  and  the  devil,  to 
obey  their  Royal  Captain.  And,  the  whole  world  has 
heard  His  command.  For  the  Will  of  Almighty  God  is 
that  every  man  shall  render  unto  God  what  belongs  to 
God  and  to  Csesar  what  belonjrs  to  Ctrsar.     Therefore, 


210  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Catholics  defend  neither  the  despotism  of  the  full-handed 
few  nor  the  anarchy  of  the  hare-handed  many.  Their 
part  is  loyally  to  serve  and  to  defend  their  country  in 
those  things  proper  to  the  will  of  their  country,  for 
service  and  sacrifice  to  one's  country  falls  within  the 
full  orbed  duty  of  all  mankind  —  to  obey  the  First  Com- 
mandment and  the  second  that  is  like  unto  the  First. 
This  is  the  open  secret  by  which  the  Church  sends  her 
sons  forth  to  battle  with  the  courage  of  a  David:  the 
faith  of  the  Centurian  of  the  Gospel :  the  inspiration  of 
Blessed  Joan  of  Arc.  It  is  this  spirit  that  shines  out 
in  splendor  through  that  son  of  the  Holy  Church  — 
Generalissimo  Foch  —  to  whom  all  the  sin-sick  world, 
to-day,  does  honor.  True  patriot!  So  simple  in  his 
piety  as  to  kneel  in  the  dust  to  receive  the  Benediction  of 
the  Most  High  God :  So  simple  in  his  purpose  that  lit- 
tle children  are  his  best  soldiers  in  prayer :  So  modest 
in  victory :  — "  Monseigneur,  do  not  thank  me  hut  Him 
to  Whom  victory  alone  belongs."  All  hail  to  those  men 
who  fight  by  the  light  of  those  principles  that  made  the 
"  unperturbable  Foch  "  the  ideal  soldier ! 


VI 

BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS 

IN  no  department  of  organized  society  is  the  propa- 
ganda of  Socialism  more  active  than  in  that  of  edu- 
cation. From  university  down  to  kindergarten  their 
agents  are  tearing  av^^ay  the  ground  of  right-reason, 
namely:  God  the  Creator  first,  next  the  individuality 
of  my  immortal  soul,  then  all  things  else,  the  three 
basal  dimensions  of  thought.  All  the  while  they  are  set- 
ting up  an  ideology  that  passes  as  the  current  philosophi- 
cal coin  with  all  those  who  have  lost  the  Catholic  poise 
of  mind  and  heart,  "  'tis  pity,  'tis,  'tis  true,"  but  these 
are  the  multitude.  So  it  is  that  a  false  ideology  is  sup- 
planting those  true  ideals  that  in  fancy  create  and  in 
fact  help  to  establish,  a  heaven  on  earth,  for  their 
roots  are  deep  down  in  the  soil  of  a  God-given  morality. 
It  was  the  founder  of  Socialism  —  Katl  Marx  —  who 
pitched  the  key  of  its  theory :  "  The  Reformation  was 
the  work  of  a  monk;  the  Revolution  will  be  the  work  of 
a  philosopher."  Truly  the  "  monk "  had  set  up  his 
own  will  as  his  own  authority  and  too  as  the 
authority  of  all  those  who  would  bow  down  to 
his  will.  Powerful  princes  who  had  long  wanted 
their     own     way     as     against     God's     will     openly 

accepted     the     "  monk's "     will     as    their     authority. 

211 


212  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

This  union  between  the  rebellious  monk  and  the  dis- 
solute princes  led  to  a  long  and  bloody  defense  of  their 
spiritual  rights  and  their  property  rights  by  the  peas- 
ants with  the  consequent  loss  of  their  economic  freedom 
and  the  corruption  and  confusion  of  their  faith.  Quite 
logically,  from  such  vicious  premise,  when  Marx's 
"  philosopher  "  arrived  upon  the  scene,  some  three  hun- 
dred years  later,  he  found  a  rotten-ripe  soil  for  extend- 
ing and  expounding  the  effect  of  the  "  Reformation  " 
to  that  of  "  Revolution."  Indeed,  the  philosopher  has 
long  since  been  busy  in  the  colleges  of  our  country,  and 
we  have  reason  to  know  that  his  task  is  rather  near 
completion.  In  a  word  that  task  is  "  Blasting  at  the 
Rock  of  Ages  " —  a  designation  given  to  it  by  Harold 
Bolce  (1910)  in  an  able  article  in  the  Cosmopolitan. 

Colleges  Making  Soculists 

"  Out  of  the  curricula  of  American  colleges  a  dynamic 
movement  is  upheaving  ancient  foundation  and  promising 
a  way  for  revolutionary  thought  and  life.  Those  who  are 
not  in  close  touch  with  the  colleges  of  the  country  will 
be  astonished  to  learn  the  creeds  being  fostered  by  the 
faculties  of  our  great  universities.  In  hundreds  of  class 
rooms  it  is  being  taught  daily  that  the  decalogue  is  no 
more  sacred  than  a  syllabus;  that  the  home  as  an  institu- 
tion is  doomed;  that  there  are  no  absolute  evils;  that  im- 
morality is  simply  an  act  in  contravention  of  society's  stand- 
ards; that  democracy  is  a  failure  and  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  only  spectacular  rhetoric;  that  the  change  from 
one  religion  to  another  is  like  getting  a  new  hat;  that  moral 
precepts  are  passing  shibboleths;  that  conceptions  of  right 
and  wrong  are  as  unstable  as  styles  of  dress;  that  wide  stair- 
ways are  oven  betii'een  social  levels,  but  that  to  the  climber 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  213 

children  are  incumbrances;  that  the  sole  effect  of  prolificacy 
is  to  fill  tiny  graves^  and  that  there  can  be  and  are  holier 
alliances  without  the  marriage  bond  than  within  it.  These 
are  some  of  the  revolutionary  and  sensational  teachings 
submitted  with  academic  warrant  to  the  minds  of  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  students  in  the  United  States.  It  is  time  that 
the  public  realized  what  is  being  taught  to  the  youth  of 
this  country." 

The  nine  years  since  the  time  when  Mr.  Bolce  passed 
several  weeks  in  attendance  at  the  lectures  in  one  after 
another  of  more  than  one  hundred  universities  and  col- 
leges have  gradually  raised  the  wind  to  the  threatening 
violence  of  the  whirlwind.  Yet,  there  is  no  serious  at- 
tempt to  provide  students  with  the  rational  necessity  for 
a  First  Cause,  to  say  nothing  of  giving  them  the  unan- 
swerable proof  of  the  existence  of  the  Lord-God,  however 
many  theories  to  the  contrary  men  may  hatch  up. 

The  taught  have  become  teachers  of  irreligion  and 
antipatriotism  in  such  large  numbers  that  the  radical 
proletarian  forces  have  trained  leaders  and  to  spare. 
Of  this  there  is  ample  proof. 

Inteb-Collegiate  Socialist  Society 

College  men  and  women  organized  this  society  in  Kew 
York  (1905)  with  Jack  London,  president;  J.  G. 
Phelps  Stokes  and  Upton  Sinclair,  vice-presidents; 
Harry  W.  Laidler,  secretary.  The  form  of  the  organi- 
zation is  made  up  of  student  and  alumni  chapters.  The 
body  declares :  "  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  interest 
in  Socialism  among  college  men,  graduate  and  under- 


214 


BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 


graduate,  through  the  formation  of  study  clubs  in  the 
colleges  and  universities,  and  the  encouraging  of  all  le- 
gitimate endeavors  to  awaken  an  interest  in  Socialism 
among  the  educated  men  and  women  of  the  country." 
Up  to  the  spring  of  1916,  the  Inter-Collegiate  Socialist 
Society  had  organized  chapters  in  seventy-one  universi- 
ties and  colleges.  Fourteen  Alumni  Chapters  were  then 
established  in  centers  of  population.  We  present  the  list 
of  officers  and  chapters : 


Officers   Intercollegiate   Socialist    Society 


President, 

Executive  Committee 

Florence  Kelly, 

Louis  B.  Boudin, 

Cornell 

N.  Y.  U.  Law 

First  Vice-President, 

H.  W.  L.  Dana,        Harvard 

Evans  Clark, 

Arthur  Gleason,            Yale 

Amherst 

Jessie  W.  Hughan,  Barnard 

Second  Vice-President, 

Nicholas  Kelly^      Harvard 

Vida  D.  Scudder, 

Freda  Kirchwey,       Barnard 

Smith 

Darwin  J.  Meserole, 

Treasurer, 

N.  Y.  U.  Law 

Mary  E.  Sanford, 

Winthrop  D.  Lane,  Michigan 

Vassar 

George  Nasmyth,        Cornell 

Secretary, 

John  Spargo 

Harry  W.  Laidler, 

Helen  Phelps  Stokes 

Wesleyan 

Caro  Lloyd  Strobell^  Vassar 

Norman  M.  Thomas, 

Princeton 

Executive  Secretary, 

Alice  K.  Boehme 

Chas.  Zueblin,  Northwestern 

Sectional  Committee 

New  England 

Far  West 

Emily  G.  Balch 

M.  Louise  Hunt 

Vida  D.  Scudder 

E.  A.  Maynard 

BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS 


215 


Middle  West 
Dr.  G.  Lippmann 
Ibwin  St.  John  Tucker 


Southern  Atlantic 
Wm.  F.  Cochran 
Mary  Eaoul  Millis 


Student  Council 


Devere  Allen,  Oberlin 

Robert  W.  Dunn,  Yale 

Clara  Eliot,  Keed 

Ammon  a.  Hennacy, 

Madeline  Hunt,  Vassar 

Ohio  State 

G.  E.  Cunningham,  Beloit 

Hilmar  Eauschenbusch, 

Harry  L.  Janeway,  Kutgers 

Amherst 

J.  Liebstein,  C.  C.  N.  Y. 

A.  Rickles,  Washington 

Broadus  Mitchell, 

Johns  Hopkins 

Colleges  and  Un 

iversity  Chapters 

1  Albion 

21  Grinnell 

2  Amherst 

22  Hamline 

3  Bernard 

23  Harvard 

4  Bates 

24  Howard 

5  Beloit 

25  Illinois 

6  Berkeley  Divinity 

26  Indiana 

7  Brown 

27  Iowa 

8  California 

28  Iowa  State 

9  Carnegie  Institute 

29  John  Marshall  Law 

Technology 

30  Johns  Hopkins 

10  Chicago 

31  Kansas  Agricultural 

11  Cincinnati 

32  La  Crosse  Normal 

12  City  College  (N.  Y.) 

33  Los  Angeles  Osteopathic 

13  Clark 

34  Mass.  Inst.  Technology 

14  Colorado 

35  Miama 

15  Columbia 

36  Michigan 

16  Cornell 

37  Middle  Tenn.  Normal 

17  Dartmouth 

38  Minnesota 

18  East  Tennessee  Normal 

39  Nevada 

19  Emory  and  Henry 

40  New  York 

20  George  Washington 

41  New  York  Dental 

216 


BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 


42  New  York  Law 

43  North  Carolina 

44  North  Dakota 

45  Oberlin 

46  Ohio  State 

47  Ohio  Wesley  an 

48  Pennsylvania 

49  Pittsburgh 

50  Princeton 

51  Eadcliffe 

52  Randolph  Mason 

53  Richmond 

54  Rutgers 

55  Simmons 

56  Simpson 


57  South  Carolina 

58  Springfield 

59  Syracuse 

60  Temple 

61  Trinity 

62  Union  Theological 

63  Utah 

64  Valparaiso 

65  Vassar 

66  Virginia 

67  Washington   (Wash.) 

68  Washington-Jefferson 

69  Washington  and  Lee 

70  Wisconsin 

71  Yale 


Alumni  Chapters 

1  Buffalo  8  Portland 

2  Central  California  9  Schenectady 

3  Chicago  10  South 

4  Cleveland  11  St.  Louis 

5  Detroit  12  Springfield 

6  Los  Angeles  13  Washington 

7  New  York  14  Wilkes-Barre 

The  I-C.  S.  S.  publishes  a  magazine  of  general  inter- 
est to  its  members  and  it  has  issued  several  books  and  a 
number  of  pamphlets.  Its  roster  carries  the  names  of 
leading  socialist  lecturers.  It  is  recorded  that  in 
1915-16  John  Spargo,  Eose  Pastor  Stokes  and  Harry 
Laidler  had  delivered  addresses  in  one  hundred  and 
twenty  colleges  to  30,000  students  with  12,000  other 
persons  in  attendance.  They  had  lectured  to  80  classes 
besides  speaking  to  more  than  a  score  of  College  bodies. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  217 

Besides  the  three  persons  mentioned,  the  principal  lec- 
turers of  the  Society  are  Scott  Nearing,  J.  G.  Phelps 
Stokes,  William  English  Walling,  Victor  Berger,  Flor- 
ence Kelly  and  Bouck  White.  So  active  is  this  college 
propaganda,  that  when  John  Spargo  announced  to  the 
public  his  resignation  from  the  Socialist  Party  (May  30, 
1917)  he  was  not  left  without  a  responsive  field  for 
his  efforts.  Mr.  Spargo  assured  the  public  that 
"  Through  the  Inter-Collegiate  Socialist  Society  and 
such  other  channels  as  are  open  to  me,  free  from  So- 
cialist Party  control,  I  shall  continue  to  expound  Social- 
ist principles,  as  I  have  done  for  many  years  past." 
There  is  no  doubt  about  the  colleges  of  the  country  be- 
ing a  fruitful  field  for  Socialist  cultivation.  However, 
Mr.  Spargo  has  made  himself  a  prime  favorite  with  the 
near    Socialists  —  who  come  ever  nearer  —  as  well. 

In  reflecting  upon  the  growth  of  Socialist  propaganda 
in  the  highest  institutions  of  learning  one  should  call 
to  mind  the  secularization  by  the  Carnegie  Foundation 
of  so  many  of  what  was  once  denominational  seminaries 
for  graduating  Protestant  ministers.  Since  it  is  but 
logical  that  when  God  is  taken  out  of  the  college  curricu- 
lum. Socialism  is  most  easily  put  in. 

Of  course  we  do  not  assume  that  this  was  Mr.  Andrew 
Carnegie's  deliberate  intention.  Not  at  all,  yet  it  is 
plain  from  the  gentleman's  own  words  that  he  has  no 
serious  objection  to  Socialism  if  only  it  will  but  delay 
its  coming  until  the  old  Scotch  laddie  has  been  paid  back 
in  full  limelight  for  the  millions  that  he  has  put  into 
persuading   directors   to   regard   their   foundations   as 


218  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

scraps  of  paper  —  all  in  the  interest  of  that  self-same 
philosophy  that  Marx's  "  philosopher "  is  spreading 
abroad.  Neither  do  we  assume  that  should  the  millions 
"  come  back "  that  restitution  would  be  made  to  the 
persons  and  to  the  state  for  the  blow-hole-armor-plate- 
tariff-manipulated-cheap-labor-profits  that  built  up 
those  many  million  roots  of  evil.  However,  one  should 
not  expect  overmuch  from  those  who  are  taught  by  the 
soap-box  philosopher  especially  if  they  were  robbed  of 
the  ground  of  justice  and  the  light  of  love  by  the 
"  monk  "  who  brought  about  the  Reformation. 

Certainly,  patience  is  one  of  the  cardinal  virtues,  but 
patience  comes  not  from  brute  force,  not  from  the  action 
and  reaction  of  matter  in  motion  as  Mr.  Carnegie  as- 
sumes. It  comes  together  with  the  rational  mind  of 
men  and  it  is  perfected  by  the  practise  of  the  true 
religion. 

"  Socialists  should  reflect," —  says  Mr.  Carnegie,  "  he- 
cause  it  requires  a,  change  in  human  nature,  a  change 
quite  as  great  as  that  involved  in  the  evolution  of  the 
man-ape  into  the  savage  or  the  savage  into  civilized 
man."  (Page  136  "  Problems  of  To-day,"  N.  Y.  1908.) 
Indeed  "  Socialists  should  reflect,"  since  it  is  Mr.  Car- 
negie's privilege  to  play  the  role  of  Marx's  "  philoso- 
pher "  in  these  piping  days,  that  the  source  of  all  things 
human  —  one  may  not  add  divine  —  is  a  "  burning 
mass  of  matter  "  that  comes  from  nowhere.  That  since 
it  was  after  eons  of  time  when  the  beast  appeared,  with- 
out cause,  from  which  man  finally  evolved,  even  Social- 
ists should  be  contented,  for  some  time  to  come,  with  the 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  219 

de-Christianizing  of  institutions  of  learning.  At  any 
rate,  the  Scotch  iron  master  lays  out  a  wide  and  shal- 
low program  for  the  activities  of  the  Inter-Collegiate 
Socialist  Society. 

One  is  perforce  reminded  of  Mr.  Carnegie's  proto- 
type Stephen  Girard  —  the  founder  of  the  Godless  Gi- 
rard  College  —  for  the  perversion,  it  were  blasphemous 
to  say  education  —  of  poor  little  white  orphans.  In 
arguing  the  bequest  that  was  conditioned  by  forbidding 
the  teaching  of  religion ;  by  forbidding  any  ecclesiastic, 
missionary  or  minister  to  step  foot  within  its  gates,  be- 
fore the  Supreme  Court  (Feb.  1844)  Daniel  Webster 
said  the  will  gave  evidence  of  "  sheer  ribald,  low,  vul- 
gar, deism  and  infidelity." — "  I  deny  that  in  the  eye  of 
equitable  jurisprudence,  this  devise  be  a  charity  at  all." 
"  I  maintain,  that  neither  by  juridical  decisions  nor  by 
correct  reasoning  on  general  principles,  can  this  devise 
or  bequest  to  the  City  of  Philadelphia  be  regarded  as  a 
charity."  "  This  devise  is  no  charity  at  all.  It  is  no 
charity,  because  the  plan  of  education  proposed  by  Gir- 
ard is  derogatory  to  the  Christian  religion;  tends  to 
weaken  men's  reverence  for  that  religion,  and  their  con- 
viction of  its  authority  and  importance,  and  therefore,  in 
its  general  character,  tends  to  mischievous  and  not  to 
useful  ends."  "  I  have  considered  this  proposition,  and 
am  ready  to  stand  by  it." 

Evidently  the  "  philosopher "  has  worked  a  swift 
change  since  by  "  bettering  the  instruction  "  we  now 
have  many  Godless  Colleges  instead  of  but  one.  Yet 
since  God  is  not  mocked,  every  sober-minded  man  may 


220  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CimE 

agree  with  the  great  Webster  in  his  closing  words  before 
the  Supreme  Court: 

"  In  my  opinion,  if  Mr.  Girard  had  given  years  to  the 
study  of  a  mode  by  which  he  could  dispose  of  his  vast 
fortune  so  that  no  good  could  arise  to  the  general  cause 
of  charity  —  no  good  to  the  general  cause  of  learning  —  no 
good  to  human  society  —  and  that  which  would  be  most 
productive  of  protracted  struggles,  troubles  and  difficulties 
in  the  popular  councils  of  a  great  city,  he  could  not  so 
effectually  have  attained  this  result  as  he  has  by  this  de- 


The  soap-box  Socialists  are  very  angry  with  Mr. 
Carnegie,  they  charge  him  with  the  responsibility  for 
the  killing  of  his  workmen  during  the  Homestead  strike, 
but  Marxian  "  philosophers "  know  that  financial  in- 
ducement to  de-Christianize  colleges  is  all  to  their  ad- 
vantage. They  know  that  denying  God  logically  leads 
to  the  defiance  of  all  legitimate  authority  and  this  is  a 
long  step  on  the  way  to  the  "  Eevolution."  If  only 
ten  Tfien  would  consider  this  whole  proposition  and  stand 
to  the  issue !  the  Carnegies  —  Rockefellers  and  a  host 
of  other  clever  manipulators  of  men's  minds  and  of  our 
statutes  could  be  brought  to  book  and  made  to  turn  back 
into  the  public  treasury  those  many  millions  —  that 
should  be  restored  to  workmen  and  their  families  for 
their  cry  hath  entered  into  the  ear  of  the  Lord-God  of 
Saboath  —  instead  of  being  used  -to  corrupt  our  seats 
of  learning  and  the  popular  mind,  then  the  tide  of  Bol- 
shevism might  be  kept  low  —  far  away  from  the  shores 
of  our  country. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  221 

Surely  we  are  at  the  parting  of  the  ways.  Genuine 
education  leads  to  God,  not  away  from  Him.  We  know 
that  in  the  Middle  Ages  the  application  of  Christian 
principles  builded  a  civilization  that  in  the  main  showed 
forth  right  industrial  relations  between  man  and  man; 
and  we  are  confident  that  the  application  of  the  prin- 
ciples set  forth  by  Pope  Leo  XIII,  Pius  X  and  the  reign- 
ing Pontiff  Benedict  XV  to  this  our  time  would  go  a 
long  way  towards  reconciling  a  situation  that  has  be- 
come well  nigh  intolerable. 

Rand  School 

Dull  is  the  ear  that  has  not  heard  the  mutterings  of 
the  on-coming  storm;  or  may  be  it  is  that  sort  of  de- 
light in  the  intoxication  of  the  senses  that  prompted  the 
exclamation :  After  me  the  deluge !  At  all  events  fol- 
lowing close  upon  the  heels  of  the  reports  telling  of  the 
horrors  of  the  Lenin-Trotsky  reign  of  terror,  came  the 
placid  announcement  that  the  Russian  Socialists  had 
established  a  school  to  teach  Bolshevism.  The  press  of 
our  country  knowingly  editorialized  upon  this  assimied- 
to-be-new-venture  as  though  its  domestication  here  were 
utterly  unknown.  Not  a  reference  was  made  to  the 
flourishing  schools  teaching  the  self-same  doctrines  in 
our  midst.  Not  a  hint  of  having  heard  the  calling  of  the 
thunder  that  broke  into  storm  over  in  the  despotic  land 
of  the  Czar.  To  be  sure,  the  Marxian  prognostication 
had  proved  at  fault  since  even  the  Revolution  should 
have  followed  the  law  of  economic  materialism  and  so 
break  out  first  in  that  country  most  highly  developed 


^22  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUBE 

industrially  —  but  what  is  a  law  to  the  lawless  ?  How- 
ever, the  Eand  School  recently  received  due  notice  from 
the  Federal  Court.  The  American  Socialist  Society  — 
the  incorporated  body  under  whose  auspices  the  Rand 
School  is  conducted  —  was  fined  $3,000  (March  21, 
1919)  for  unlawfully  obstructing  the  recruiting  and  en- 
listing service  of  the  government  during  the  war  by 
the  publication  and  circulation  of  treasonable  litera- 
ture. This  official  rebuff  is  like  to  a  drop  of  water  in 
the  full  bucket,  for  the  offense  of  the  Rand  School  is  in- 
grain. Its  reprehensible  teaching  is  constant,  not 
merely  an  incidental  lapse  in  moral  conduct.  This 
School  of  Social  Science  on  the  East  Side  of  N^ew  York 
is  of  degrading  origin.  Its  sire  was  Infidelity,  its  dam 
Rebellion,  and  its  multiplying  fund  is  all  for  the  Revo- 
lution. Its  financial  foundation  grew  out  of  the  "  So- 
cialist Marriage  "  of  a  one-time  Congregationalist  min- 
ister —  George  D.  Herron  —  and  the  daughter  of  a  rich 
woman  who  had  financed  a  chair  of  "  Applied  Christian- 
ity "  in  a  middle  west  college,  from  which  Dr.  Herron 
presided.  At  this  time  Mrs.  and  Miss  Rand  made 
visits  to  the  home  of  the  Herrons.  At  length  Dr.  Her- 
ron left  his  wife  —  the  mother  of  his  five  children,  who 
consented  to  a  divorce,  the  financial  consideration  ($60,- 
000)  was  disbursed  by  the  mother  of  the  "  Socialist 
bride."  Replying  to  the  charge,  of  the  college  faculty, 
of  conduct  unbecoming  to  a  minister,  the  Professor  of 
Applied  Christianity  defended  himself  in  terms  identi- 
cal with  those  used  by  the  Bolsheviki  of  to-day, — "  I  do 
not  believe  the  present  marriage  system  is  sacred  or 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  223 

good  " — "  men  and  women  must  be  free  from  interfer- 
ence of  legal  and  ecclesiastical  force."  "  If  it  is  a  free 
land, —  or  a  free  religion,  or  a  free  family,  or  a  wholly 
free  society,  we  shall  find  it  on  the  other  side  of  socialism 
or  along  the  socialistic  way." 

Evidently,  this  second  mother-in-law  of  Dr.  Herron 
had  made  progress  in  degeneracy  since  even  her  sort  of 
"  applied  Christianity  "  no  longer  suited  her  pleasure. 
To  Dr.  Herron,  Mrs.  Kand  bequeathed  $200,000  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  school  "  to  teach  social 
science  from  the  standpoint  of  international  Socialism  " 
—  Christianity  was  thrown  in  the  discard. 

At  the  death  of  Mrs.  Eand,  Mrs.  Herron  No.  Two 
added  a  contributary  fund.  The  American  Socialist 
Society  (Eand  School)  was  incorporated  by  George  D. 
Herron,  Morris  Hillquit  and  Algernon  Lee;  these  gen- 
tlemen are  also  its  Directors.  The  school  opened  (1906) 
with  some  250  students.  This  year  (1919)  a  regis- 
tration of  6,000  students  is  claimed.  Also  another  5,000 
in  its  correspondence  classes.  It  has  a  large  corps  of 
socialist  and  radical  professors,  many  of  them  from 
universities  and  colleges  in  and  about  New  York  City  — 
Columbia  supplying  a  large  quota.     We  give  a  list. 

Prof.  Franklin  H.  Giddings,  Prof.  D.  S.  Muzzey,  Prof. 
Charles  A.  Beard,  Columbia;  Prof.  Wm.  Noyes;  Prof.  I.  A. 
Hourwich;  Prof.  Vida  D.  Scudder,  Wellesley.;  Dr.  Emily 
Green  Balch,  Wellesley;  Charlotte  Perkins  Stetson  Gill- 
man;  William  N.  Leiserson;  George  K.  Kirkpatrick;  Al- 
gernon Lee;  Robert  W.  Bruere;  John  Spargo;  Morris  Hill- 
quit;  Benjamin  C.  Gruenberg;  Florence  Kelly;  Scott  Near- 


224  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

ing;  Laura  Gannet,  Columbia;  Benjamin  B.  Kendrick,  Co- 
lumbia; David  P.  Barenberg;  Joseph  Schlossberg;  Judge 
Jacob  Panken;  Bertha  M.  Mailly;  Helen  L.  Sumner;  Prof. 
Lester  Ward;  Prof.  Charles  F.  Zueblin;  Louis  B.  Boudin; 
Lucien  Sanial;  James  H.  Maurer;  Max  Schonberg;  S.  E. 
Beardsley;  Benjamin  Glassberg;  A.  J.  Fichandler;  A.  J. 
Shiplacoff;  Prof.  J.  A.  Dewey;  James  O'Neal;  Dr.  John  B. 
Andrews ;  Prof.  Williard  Fisher ;  Julius  H.  Cohen,  and  Louis 
Lochner,  formerly  Mr.  Ford's  Secretary. 

The  Rand  School  cleverly  dismisses,  as  an  out-v^orn 
notion,  the  theological  seminary.  It  announces  that  it 
is  spreading  abroad  a  new  faith.  A  faith  limited  to 
this  world,  dealing  only  with  the  things  of  sense.  Its 
seductions,  in  this  regard,  are  not  to  be  despised  since 
together  with  its  vicious  reflections  upon  the  doctrines 
of  the  Church,  it  discounts  the  motives  of  the  priests. 
Meanwhile  it  uses  Christian  imagery  to  bring  to  the 
Socialist  movement  those  having  the  spirit  of  self-sacri- 
fice for  the  love  of  God  which  is  in  exact  contradiction 
to  the  enlightened  self-interest  that  is  the  best  intention 
that  can  be  mustered  in  the  camp  of  the  radicals.  We 
quote : 

"  The  Kand  School  is  —  not  a  theological  seminary,  but 
a  sociological  seminary.  In  it  men  and  women  prepare 
themselves  to  be  the  evangelists  of  a  new  faith,  to  point 
the  wretched  and  unhappy  to  a  World  to  Come,  not  down 
from  Heaven,  but  up  from  and  out  of  the  Hell  of  Poverty; 
to  show  them  Labor  hanging  on  the  cross  now,  but  soon 
to  be  the  Eedeemer  of  the  world;  they  are  to  go  forth,  not 
to  fat  parishes  and  prosperous  careers,  but  to  hardship,  maybe 
to  martyrdom."     (N.  Y.  Call,  Jan.  25,  1919.) 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  225 

Turning  to  the  aims  of  the  Rand  School  its  key  note 
is  struck  —  Socialists  are  to  be  equipped  for  the  strug- 
gle of  "  emancipation."  Emancipation  from  what  ? 
Why,  to  be  sure,  from  the  Law  and  the  Gospels.  From 
the  constitution  natural  to  the  human  race  —  from  the 
knowledge  of  Almighty  God,  from  humanity,  marriage, 
liberty,  property.  We  dare  say  that  our  own  forefath- 
ers most  carefully  worked  out  the  natural  law  given  by 
God  into  a  program  for  the  government  of  a  nation, 
therefore  it  is  clearly  the  intention  of  the  Rand  School 
to  instruct  its  students  how  most  readily  to  overthrow 
our  institutions  and  to  set  up  — "  along  the  Socialist 
way  " —  a  "  Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat  "  such  as 
that  in  Russia: 

Its  Aims 

To  teach  the  Social  Sciences  from  the  standpoint  of 
Marxian  Socialism. 

To  train  workers  for  the  Socialist  and  Labor  movements, 
organizers,  speakers,  writers,  investigators,  etc. 

To  supply  the  Socialist  movement  with  information  to 
equip  it  in  its  struggle  for  emancipation. 

To  afford  the  worker  an  opportunity  for  cultural  educa- 
tion. 

This  school  gives  an  irreligious  and  unscientific  twist 
to  the  sociological  data  gathered  through  its  research 
department  and  this  matter  is  sent  out  to  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  persons  through  the  books  and  pamphlets 
it  circulates ;  and  through  the  agency  of  the  many  meet- 
ings held  under  its  auspices.  In  a  word  the  Rand 
School  is  the  center  for  the  American  Bolshevist  educa- 


226  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

tional  activities.     'Not  a  few  of  its  post-graduates  are  the 
masters  of  the  sometime  lands  of  the  Czar. 

Teachers'  Bureau 

The  views  of  Bolshevism  has  been  making  its  way 
through  the  veins  of  our  public  school  system  for  some 
ten  years.  Those  public  school  teachers  who  belong 
to  the  organized  party  have  banded  themselves  together 
in  the  "  Socialist  Teachers'  Bureau  "  to  promote  their 
baneful  cause.  The  purpose  of  the  Socialist  Teachers' 
Bureau  was  set  out  in  its  report  to  the  l!^ational  Con- 
vention of  the  Socialist  Party  (1912  —  proceedings  p. 
207)  :  "  The  purpose  of  the  Bureau  is  to  enable  So- 
cialist teachers  to  get  in  touch  with  Socialist  members 
of  School  Boards.  Also  by  having  a  complete  list  of 
Socialist  teachers  on  file  in  the  N^ational  Office  —  to 
circularize  and  keep  in  touch  with  all  matters  pertain- 
ing to  their  particular  line  of  work.  At  the  present  time 
we  have  on  hand  applications  for  positions  from  49 
teachers  and  inquiries  regarding  the  securing  of  Social- 
ist teachers  to  fill  20  vacancies." 

"  The  National  Office  does  not  guarantee  positions, 
nor  does  it  guarantee  good  faith  upon  the  part  of  either 
applicant.  It  simply  helps  to  bring  the  teacher  and  the 
position  together,  rendering  service  free  of  charge.  It 
does  this  because  of  the  ever  growing  demand  of  school 
directors  for  Socialist  teachers  for  positions  and  of  So- 
cialist teachers  for  positions  in  which  they  can  teach 
unhampered  by  the  prejudice  of  capitalist-minded  school 
boards." 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  227 

To  "  safeguard  "  both  teachers  and  organizations,  all 
applicants  for  positions  are  cautioned  that  they  must 
enclose  proof  of  a  "  paid  up  membership  "  in  the  party. 
The  report  is  signed  by  the  names  of  well  known 
women  within  the  Socialist  movement  of  the  country: 

Meta  Berger  (Chairman,  Milwaukee  School  Board) 

Winnie  E.  Branstretter 

Grace  D.  Brewer 

Ella  Carr 

Lena  Morrow  Lewis 

May   Wood- Simons 

LueUa  Twining 

Caroline  A.  Lowe. 

The  National  oflBce  of  the  Socialist  Party  acts  as  the 
clearing  house  for  the  Socialist  Teachers'  Bureau.  In 
the  Party  Builder  (July  26,  1913)  it  seeks  to  spread 
its  doctrine: 

WANTED  —  Fifty  positions  with  Socialist  school  boards 
for  red  card  Socialist  teachers.  Apply  National  Socialist 
Teachers'  Bureau,  111  N.  Market  street,  Chicago. 

The  State  organizations  of  the  party  are  actively 
carrying  out  the  program  of  the  National  Organization 
by  placing  their  members  in  public  school  positions. 
The  far  west  has  been  rather  successful  in  this  venture. 
The  following  announcement  signed  by  the  Secretary 
of  the  Socialist  Party  of  Tacoma,  Wash.,  appeared  in 
several  of  their  publications: 

"  School  teachers  who   are   Socialists   are  wanted  in  the 


228  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

state  of  Washington.  Fully  100  can  be  placed  at  salaries 
from  $60  a  month  upward.  The  recent  school  elections  in 
Washington  resulted  in  surprising  victories  for  the  Socialists, 
who  ascribe  their  unexpected  success  to  the  vindictive  at- 
tacks that  have  been  made  upon  Socialism  during  the  past 
year  or  two  by  prominent  clericals  and  open  shop  capitalists. 
The  people  are  studying  the  question,  and  the  Socialists 
made  the  frank  announcement  that  if  they  won  in  the  elec- 
tions Socialism  would  be  taught  in  the  public  schools." 
(Milwaukee  Leader,  May  28,  1913.) 

The  Socialist  Party  of  the  Lone  Star  State  advertises 
in  the  cause  of  promoting  its  doctrine  within  the  public 
school  system: 

WANTED  —  Correspondence  with  boards  of  trustees  de- 
siring Socialist  teachers,  and  teachers  wanting  such  schools. 
(The  Behel,  HalletsviUe,  Texas,  July  10,  1915.) 

The  Party  Builder  (Chicago,  May  23,  1913)  records 
its  success  and  announces  its  expectation  of  doubling  its 
opportunity  for  teaching  the  young  idea  how  to  shoot 
with  Socialist  weapons: 

Teachers'  Bureau  —  Woman's  Department 

"  The  increased  number  of  Socialists  elected  to  school 
boards  increases  the  possibility  of  placing  Socialist  teachers. 
Last  year  we  were  able  to  place  about  25  first-class  Socialist 
teachers  in  positions  where  they  could  train  the  minds  of 
young  people  toward  the  ideals  of  Socialism,  thus  counteract- 
ing the  capitalistic  tendencies  toward  false  patriotism,  racial 
prejudice,  individual  competition  and  snobbishness. 

"  We  are  now  preparing  a  list  of  teachers  for  the  school 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  229 

term  of  1914-1915  and  will  no  doubt  be  able  to  double  last 
year's  record." 

In  addressing  the  New  Jersey  Committee  of  the  party 
on  education,  Dr.  Maud  Thompson  spoke  clearly  the 
Socialist  mind  as  to  the  expediency  of  using  the  public 
school  system  in  their  general  scheme  of  propaganda, 
if  it  is  to  be  captured.     To  quote : 

"  The  Socialist  philosophy  implies  a  whole  new  system 
of  education.  It  will  be  an  education  fitted  to  develop 
workers  and  thinkers,  and  not,  as  now,  adapted  to  one  class 
only.  But  at  present  Socialists  can  work  for  this  new  kind 
of  education  only  through  the  established  school  system. 
It  would  be  impossible,  even  if  it  were  desirable,  for  Social- 
ists to  establish  institutions  to  compete  with  the  public 
schools."     (The  N.  Y.  Call,  Aug.  25,  1911.) 

One  may  be  certain  that  "  this  new  system  of  edu- 
cation "  sets  forth  the  perversion  of  modesty  in  the  calm 
tones  of  a  mind  utterly  corrupted.  In  the  magazine 
section  of  the  New  York  Call  (March  9,  1919)  Dr. 
Thompson  covers  a  page  with  words  on  "  Modesty  "  not 
fit  to  print.  There  is  put  into  the  mouth  of  a  twenty- 
seven  months'  old  baby  questions  unbecoming  in  a  four- 
teen year  old  girl. 

The  text  goes  on  to  explain  that  the  mother's  "  won- 
derful and  beautiful  piece  of  news  "  never  had  to  be 
explained  to  this  child  who  "  a  year  or  two  later  began 
to  take  an  interest  in  the  structure  of  its  own  body." 
How  heavy  must  be  the  mill-stone  that  hangs  about 
the  necks  of  those  mothers  and  those  women  doctors  who 
corrupt  the  minds  of  innocent  and  helpless  little  ones  ? 


230  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

High  Schools 

Since  the  Socialist  party  is  not  a  political  party  but 
rather  a  complete  "  scheme  of  life  "  it  has  the  unique 
distinction  of  being  the  first  political  organization  to 
hold  a  national  convention  for  the  purpose  of  inoculating 
the  public  schools  with  its  doctrines.  The  Milwaukee 
Leader  (Sep.  3,  1913)  reports  the  convention  held  in 
the  city  of  Chicago  where  plans  were  laid  for  furthering 
the  Socialist  cause.  Since  the  president  of  the  Teachers 
Federation  of  Chicago,  Mrs.  Ida  M.  Furman  —  took  a 
prominent  part,  one  must  conclude  that  Socialist  propa- 
ganda has  made,  at  least,  sympathetic  inroads  amongst 
the  teachers  of  American  children. 

In  discussing  the  question  "  How  the  Socialists  ivould 
Revolutionize  the  Schools,"  the  editor  of  the  World, 
J.  E.  Snyder  (Oakland,  Calif.  Eeb.  14,  1919)  has 
worked  the  issue  down  to  the  practical  expulsion  of  God 
with  Labor  set  up  as  the  abstract  idol  for  worship. 

"  Well,  to  begin  with,  we  would  have  the  class  conscious 
workers  in  control  of  the  school  board,  and  that  school  board 
would  have  to  know  and  acknowledge  the  class  struggle,  the 
materialistic  conception  of  history  and  economic  deter- 
minism. 

"  The  sentences,  paragraphs  and  compositions  for  use  in 
the  grammars,  will  all'  be  carefully  selected  and  will  teach 
for  labor's  advancement  instead  of  celebrating  the  dead 
morals  and  worse  deeds  of  capitalism.  The  literature  of  the 
world  is  full  of  wonderful  passages  of  revolutionary  and 
constructive  compositions.  The  orations  of  the  social  rebels 
will  furnish  many  inspiring  sentences. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  231 

"  Reading  will  be  the  most  carefully  guided  of  the  studies. 
It  will  be  so  taught,  that  children  will  read  from,  shall  we 
say,  the  age  of  three?  So  interesting  will  the  lessons  be 
that  no  lesson  will  be  anything  but  a  delight.  Every  lesson 
will  be  judged  as  to  truth  and  relation  to  Labor.  The 
curiosity  of  childhood  will  be  given  absolute  liberty  to  look 
into  all  the  hidden  mysteries  of  man  and  the  universe.  No 
institution  will  be  so  secret,  sacred  and  mysterious,  but  that 
he  shall  go  in  and  explore  to  his  heart's  content.  No  priest 
or  preacher  of  doctrines  of  faith  will  meet  him  at  the 
door  of  knowledge  and  put  goblins  in  his  brain,  fear  in  his 
heart  and  hatred  in  his  soul.  The  limitlessness  of  the  in- 
wardness and  outwardness  of  the  universe  will  be  early  dis- 
covered by  him.  Life,  full  orbed,  will  be  sought  for  with 
the  delight  of  a  real  freeman  and  Labor  will  be  sought  as 
the  most  glorious  expression  of  life." 

It  should  not  be  doubted  bj  any  one  who  would  save 
our  country  from  the  thraldom  of  the  "  dictatorship  of 
the  proletariat "  that  this  is  just  what  the  Socialist  in- 
tention is  with  regard  to  the  public  schools.  Neither 
should  it  be  doubted  that  not  a  little  of  this  will  to  sub- 
jugate the  public  schools  to  their  purpose  is  already  car- 
ried out.  Of  course  it  is  a  sound  reflection  that  the 
safe  place  to  educate  children  is  the  parochial  school. 
There  morals  are  not  "  dead,"  but  known  as  the  mani- 
festations of  the  love  and  the  law  of  God.  There 
is  the  liberty  to  learn  that  the  priest  is  the  chosen  one 
to  bring  the  knowledge  that  Christ  is  the  light,  the  life 
and  the  way  to  eternal  happiness.  There  grammar, 
reading  and  composition,  all  go  to  show  that  education 
has  for  its  purpose  the  drawing  forth  of  embryonic  tal- 


232  .    BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

ents  into  practises  and  products  for  the  good  of  one's 
self  and  one's  neighbor  for  the  glory  of  God. 

The  Inter-High  School  Socialist  League  organized 
four  or  five  years  ago  in  the  Eand  School,  IT.  Y.,  by 
George  R.  Kirkpatrick,  H.  Schoenberg,  John  Spargo  and 
others,  is  already  bearing  a  large  crop  of  corrupt  fruit. 
Its  object  as  stated  was  "  to  develop  the  educated  prole- 
tarians " — "  to  promote  an  intelligent  interest  in  So- 
cialism, to  stimulate  friendship,  to  elevate  a  general, 
social  intercourse  and  to  carry  on  a  systematic  propa- 
ganda among  high  school  students/'  Through  the  col- 
umns of  the  N.  Y.  Tribune  (Feb.  18,  1919)  Assistant 
Superintendent  of  the  High  Schools  of  'New  York,  Dr. 
John  L.  Tildsley  warns  the  public  that  the  evil  results 
of  Socialist  propaganda  can  be  seen  in  the  compositions 
of  the  pupils  and  in  their  sympathetic  remarks  relative 
to  the  Bolsheviki  and  the  Marxian  philosophy.  Con- 
versely the  same  evil  influence  may  be  frequently  seen 
in  their  antagonistic  attitude  towards  American  insti- 
tutions. 

In  its  issue  of  March  10th,  1919,  the  New  Yorh  Call 
prints  several  letters  from  high  school  boys  exulting 
over  the  Bolshevist  activities.  They  delight  in  hissing 
and  applauding  at  the  wrong  time  those  gentlemen  who 
at  the  lunch  hour  address  them  on  Bolshevism: 

"You  should  not  feel  insulted  when  it  is  charged  that 
the  Bolsheviki  came  from  your  section.  You  did  not  in- 
vite them  to  your  midst,  and  should  be  glad  they  are  gone." 

"No,  dear  doctor,  we  are  not  insulted;  we  feel  rather 
complimented.    But  we  are  sorry  they  are  gone,  for  they 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  233 

would  aid  U3,  if  here,  in  our  fight  for  democracy  in  the 
social,  economic  and  educational  systems  of  the  United 
States." 

"  So,"  Dr.  Simmons  continued,  "  people  who  incline  toward 
Bolshevism  have  not  read  the  vicious  ideas  upon  which  the 
Bolshevik  government  is  based.  Their  platform  is  the  *  Com- 
munist manifesto,'  by  Karl  Marx  and  Frederick  Engels, 
bearing  the  label,  *  Made  in  Germany.'  Let  me  read  part  of 
it  to  you :  '  The  communists  openly  declare  that  their  ends 
can  be  attained  only  by  the  forcible  overthrow  of  all  existing 
social  conditions.  Let  the  ruling  classes  tremble  at  a  com- 
munistic revolution.  The  proletarians  have  nothing  to  lose 
but  their  chains.  They  have  a  world  to  win.  Workingmen 
of  all  countries  unite ! ' " 

That  was  a  bad  selection  for  Reverend  Simmons  for  a  large 
section  of  the  audience  (by  habit,  I  suppose),  burst  into  ap- 
plause at  these  words. 

Other  letters  tell  the  same  tale  in  other  ways.  It 
is  asserted  that  there  is  not  a  class  in  school  that  has 
not  a  few  "  ardent  supporters  of  Socialism."  The  boys 
take  occasion  during  the  "  current  topics  "  period  to 
propagate  their  doctrine,  since  a  little  "  talk  once  in  a 
whille  does  much  to  convert  many  boys."  They  boast 
that  "  Practically  every  day  a  boy  is  brought  before  the 
disciplinarian  for  being  a  Bolshevist."  The  men  in 
the  Party  are  urged  to  give  these  "  Socialist  buds " 
plenty  of  culture  that  they  may  teach  their  fellow  pupils 
the  way  of  Marx  and  Engels. 

Evidently  the  School  Superintendent  realizes  the 
danger  of  this  propaganda  to  the  body  politic.  But  Dr. 
Tillsdale's  proposal  of  "  a  course  of  civics  to  fight  the 
Reds  "  is  far  behind  the  adequate  remedy.     It  is  not 


234  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

civics  but  rather  morals  that  is  needed.  But  since  the 
worldly-wise  have  long  since  banished  the  Living  Foun- 
tain of  morals  from  the  public  schools  what  should  in 
reason  be  expected  but  a  lawless  dispensation  ?  Surely 
it  is  sound,  common  sense  to  believe  that  nothing  less 
than  the  whirlwind  shall  follow  the  sowing  of  the  wind. 
If  indeed  there  were  nothing  but  fear  —  since  Venge- 
ance is  Mine  saith  the  Lord  —  as  a  motive,  that  is  suf- 
ficient to  defend  the  presence  of  religion  in  the  schools. 
But  Catholics  have  a  motive  vastly  higher  —  it  is,  how- 
ever, no  negation  of  the  first  —  for  the  maintenance  of 
their  parochial  schools.  ISTamely,  joy  in  the  love  of 
God  and  the  delight  to  do  Him  honor.  Under  the  white 
light  of  science  and  the  supernatural  light  of  love.  So- 
cialism is  quickly  seen  to  be  what  it  is  —  the  enemy  of 
right  and  justice,  the  enemy  of  liberty  and  democracy. 

Young  Peoples  Socialist  League 

The  Y.  P.  S.  L.  is  another  wide  open  door  through 
which  Bolshevism  enters  the  class  room.  Turning  the 
initial  letters  of  their  title  into  Yiddish,  they  sound 
"  Yipsel,"  which  has  become  a  name  they  love  to  con- 
jure with  the  world  over.  These  young  persons,  born 
of  a  race  without  a  country,  are  determined  to  reduce 
the  inhabitants  of  every  nation  under  the  sun  to  the 
same  desolate  fate. 

Their  organization  is  international  and  it  is  much 
more  consequential  in  European  countries  than  it  is 
here.     Karl  Liebknecht  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  235 

society,  which  had  a  steady  growth  in  Germany,  Aus- 
tria, Switzerland,  Italy,  the  Scandinavian  countries, 
and  Russia  later  fell  into  line.  Their  chief  character- 
istic is  that  they  are  not  chained  to  the  past. 

Without  a  country  and  without  religion,  these  young 
Hebrews  fling  to  the  winged  winds  even  the  restraints  of 
the  traditions  and  customs  round  about  them.  They 
see  only  the  present,  not  in  the  moral-historical  light  of 
the  past,  but  only  in  the  materialistic  view  of  the  present 
generation.  Their  intellectual  restlessness  is  mistaken 
for  a  genuine  desire  to  study.  They  agitate  —  they  act. 
In  Russia  the  "  Yipsels  "  are  said  to  form  the  most  ac- 
tive groups  of  the  Bolsheviki.  In  the  Spartacan  revolts 
in  Germany,  the  Yipsels  are  credited  with  forming  the 
backbone  of  resistance  against  the  moderate  Socialists. 

The  latest  reports  at  hand  for  the  United  States 
(1918)  gives  147  Leagues,  with  a  membership  of  4.951 
young  men  and  women.  Their  Xational  Secretary  — 
William  F.  Kruse  —  reports  that  the  Yipsels  distributed 
350,000  pieces  of  literature  during  the  year;  in  addi- 
tion to  the  circulation  of  its  official  organ  —  a  monthly. 
The  Yipsels  have  the  official  endorsement  of  the  party. 
At  the  St.  Louis  Emergency  Convention  (1917)  its  ac- 
tivities were  highly  recommended : 

"  It  has  been  clearly  shown  that  one  of  the  most  fertile 
and  promising  fields  of  Socialist  propaganda  lies  among  the 
youth  of  the  working-class,  since  their  minds  are  less  ham- 
pered by  prejudice  and  ignorance;  and  once  brought  into 
our  movement,  their  longer  potential  period  of  service  makes 
them  of  greater  value  to  us  than  any  others." 


236  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

The  Year  Book  of  the  Rand  School  (1916,  p.  155) 
gives  the  international  affiliations  of  the  Yipsels : 

"  It  is  to  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  young  socialists  of 
Europe  that  they  have  shown  as  fine  an  anti-militarist  spirit 
as  have  any  European  Socialists  in  either  of  the  warring  or 
neutral  countries." 

The  Yipsels  on  our  side  of  the  Atlantic  were  not  to 
be  outdone  in  self-disgrace.  Their  ISTational  Secretary 
lays  down  the  counsel  that  an  official  "  should  know  what 
Socialism  is,  and  how  to  practise  its  ethical  basis  in  his 
own  dealings  with  his  comrades,  and  he  must  he  a  dis- 
ciple of  Liebknecht  and  Debs  rather  than  Scheidemann 
and  Spar  go." 

Since  Mr.  Kruse  has  just  been  sentenced  for  twenty 
years'  imprisonment  for  his  treasonable  conduct  while 
we  were  in  war,  he  is  now  the  hero  per  se  of  the  Yipsels. 
No.  All  the  others  are  out  of  jail,  propagating  Social- 
ism with  increased  vigor.  Plainly  the  moral  that 
should  adorn  this  tale  is  not  the  advocacy  of  vocational 
training  under  Federal  control  but  rather  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  knowledge  of  God  as  the  right  foundation  of 
the  intellectual  training  of  the  youth  of  our  country. 
Then  the  ethical  basis  of  Catholicity  shall  be  known  for 
what  it  is  —  the  science  of  right  thinking. 

Boy  Scouts 

The  Boy  Scout  investment  of  our  country  is  a  most 
commendable  organization  for  making  boys  useful, 
healthful,  obedient,  chivalrous,  patriotic  and  reverent. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  237 

Happily  it  lays  down  a  religious  foundation  for  their 
character  building,  since  "  its  policy  is  that  the  re- 
ligious organization  or  institution  (Catholic,  Protestant 
or  Jewish)  with  which  the  Boy  Scout  is  connected  shall 
give  definite  attention  to  his  religious  life."  In  a  book- 
let — "  Boy  Scout  Training  under  Catholic  Leadership," 
Rev.  Augustine  F.  Hickey,  Supervisor  of  the  parochial 
system  of  schools  in  the  Diocese  of  Boston,  gives  a  lucid 
and  inspiring  view  of  the  significance  of  the  movement. 
We  present  these  paragraphs  of  the  matter,  together  with 
the  Scout  Oath  and  the  Scout  Law  referred  to  in  Fr. 
Hickey's  text: 

The  Significance 

The  Boy  Scouts  of  America  represent  a  nationwide  move- 
ment for  the  betterment  of  the  American  boy.  Educational 
in  its  spirit  and  purpose,  this  movement  aims  to  develop 
self-reliance,  initiative,  resourcefulness  and  the  spirit  of 
service  in  growing  boys.  Membership  in  the  organization 
and  active  participation  in  the  attractive  scout  program  bring 
to  the  boy  opportunity  for  clear  thinking,  a  broadening  of  his 
interests,  the  formation  of  good  habits  and  the  inculcation  of 
virtues  essential  to  good  character.  The  Scout  Movement 
appreciates  and  understands  the  sentiments  and  interests 
which  belong  to  the  boy.  These  interests  are  met  and  satis- 
fied by  a  program  of  activities  so  varied  and  so  broad  that 
the  true  scout  is  always  moving  forward,  becoming  keener 
in  his  capacity  for  observation  and  deduction  and  growing 
stronger  as  desirable  habits  are  woven  permanently  into  his 
character. 

The  Appeal 

The  genius  of  scouting  lies  in  its  appeal  to  the  boy.  Scout- 
ing makes  a  boy  eager  to  learn.     The  Scout's  recreation  is 


238 


BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 


the  Scout's  education.  Scouting  has  proven  an  excellent 
solution  of  the  much  discussed  boy  problem.  The  activities 
which  every  normal  boy  craves  are  utilized  in  scouting  for 
the  making  of  a  sturdy  and  manly  boyhood,  the  brightest 
promise  of  an  honorable  and  loyal  citizenship.  Yet  scouting 
is  not  play.  Scouting  is  serious  work.  Scouting  awakens  a 
sense  of  personal  responsibility  and  stirs  up  in  heart  and 
mind  the  spirit  of  earnest  devotion  to  duty.  The  Scout 
promises  on  his  honor  to  do  his  duty  to  God  and  to  his  coun- 
try, to  obey  the  scout  law,  to  help  other  people  at  all  times 
and  to  keep  himself  physically  strong,  mentally  awake  and 
morally  straight.  The  scout  is  trustworthy,  loyal,  helpful, 
friendly,  courteous,  kind,  obedient,  cheerful,  thrifty,  brave, 
clean  and  reverent. 

"  Be  Prepared,"  is  the  scout  motto.  For  what  ?  ''  For  a 
good  turn  daily  and  for  every  emergency "  is  the  answer. 
Parents,  teachers,  leaders  of  boys  have  begun  to  see  the 
movement  in  its  clear  light.  They  are  recognizing  in  scout- 
ing a  distinct  contribution  to  the  happiness  and  welfare  of  the 
boy  of  to-day  and  to  the  community  and  civic  prosperity  of 
to-morrow. 


THE  SCOUT  OATH 

On  my  honor  I  will  do  my 

best  : 
To  do  my  duty  to  God  and 

my  country,  and  to  obey 

the  Scout  Law; 
To  help  other  people  at  all 

times ; 
To  keep  myself  physically 

strong,    mentally   awake, 

and  morally  straight. 


THE 

A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 
A  Scout 


SCOUT  LAW 

is  trustworthy, 
is  loyal, 
is  helpful, 
is  friendly, 
is  courteous. 
is  kind, 
is  obedient, 
is  cheerful, 
is  thrifty, 
is  brave. 
is  clean, 
is  reverent. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  239 

Perhaps  no  stronger  contrast  between  loyalty  to  our 
country  and  disloyalty  to  our  country  could  be  shown 
than  by  placing  the  vices  recommended  to  boys  by  the 
Bolsheviki  in  contrast  to  the  virtues  that  Father  Hickey 
commends  to  his  boy  scouts.  Clarence  Meily  ("Puri- 
tanism," p.  20,  Chicago,  1911)  scorns  any  code  of  right 
conduct  as  "  surely  absurd " ;  while  to  follow  such  a 
code  is  nothing  less  than  "  monstrous." 

"  One  of  the  latest  and  most  thoroughly  characteristic 
measures  devised  for  the  propagation  of  these  virtues  is  the 
'  boy  scout '  movement ;  where,  under  pretense  of  getting  the 
pale,  anemic  children  of  the  city  workers  out  into  the  woods 
and  fields,  the  old  anesthetics  of  loyalty,  reverence,  obedience, 
and  the  rest  are  duly  administered.  For  the  proletarian, 
each  particular  one  in  the  long  catalogue  of  the  servile  vir- 
tues—  patience,  humility,  contentment,  loyalty,  reverence, 
obedience,  respect  for  law,  the  hope  of  reward  after  death  —  is 
a  most  contemptible,  demoralizing  and  destructive  vice. 
Each  one  is  the  dastardly  betrayal  of  every  interest,  whether 
of  person  or  of  class,  which  the  worker  can  possess.  Every 
instinct  of  self-preservation,  of  love  of  family,  of  class  soli- 
darity, demands  the  repudiation  of  this  base,  treacherous 
and  ridiculous  ethic.  For  the  worker,  not  patience  but  a  con- 
suming impatience  with  wrong  and  injustice,  not  humility 
but  defiance,  not  contentment  but  burning  discontent,  not 
loyalty  to  the  employer  or  constituted  authority,  but  loyalty 
only  to  class  interest,  not  reverence  but  insolence,  not  obedi- 
ence but  rebellion,  are  the  true  virtues." 

Let  no  man  think  that  this  is  merely  a  personal  opin- 
ion, since  this  outrageous  concept  of  Christian  virtues  is 
the  comroou  view  of  the  Bolsheviki  everywhere?     In 


240  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  War,  Y^hat  For  ?  "  a  full  page  picture  presents  a  beau- 
tiful, robust  Boy  Scout  flat  on  his  bands  and  knees  lick- 
ing the  spurred  boot  of  a  military  ofiicer.  In  the  back- 
ground is  a  shrewdly  smiling  face,  half  priest  and  half 
gormand,  the  figure  is  marked  with  a  dollar  sign  on  his 
vest.  The  priest-capitalist  is  gloating  over  the  servile 
training  of  the  boy  that  prepares  him  for  keeping  the 
future  "  hired  hands  "  subject  to  capitalist  exploitation. 
A  legend  is  spread  down  a  scroll  invisibly  supported.  It 
gives  orders  to  Boy  Scouts  and  is  signed  by  Rev.  O.  B. 
Goode,  Chaplain.  At  a  glance  instruction  is  given  to 
despise  those  virtues  necessary  to  the  building  of  a 
manly  character.  But  this  is  not  enough  to  satisfy  the 
author  of  this  "  anti-war  classic."  On  page  233  he 
quotes  for  purposes  of  blasphemy  and  outrage  from  a 
report  of  a  Boy  Scout  meeting: 

"  The  Church  was  beautifully  decorated  with  flags  —  Gen- 
eral Campbell  presided  and  presented  messages  of  good  will 
and  good  wishes  from  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
from  Colonel  Fred  Grant  —  and  from  many  other  influential 
men. 

"  How  interestingly  consistent  — '  Good  will  and  good 
wishes '  from  the  presidential  chairman  of  the  executive  com- 
mittee of  the  capitalist  class  in  America:  thai  is  the  National 
Government, — '  good  will,  and  good  wishes '  to  the  seducers 
of  small  boys  to  serve  as  fist  and  tusk  for  the  ruling  class. 

"  The  '  Boy  Scout '  movement  is  the  latest  manifestation 
of  this  christened  and  kerosened  cunning  to  seduce  the  in- 
nocent small  boys  for  the  blood-and-iron  embrace  of  Mars  and 
Mammon.  Mothers,  take  notice.  Be  warned.  Defend  your- 
selves." 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  241 

The  Socialist  party  knows  its  own, — "  Mary 
O'Reilly  "-^  a  Chicago  Socialist  public  school  teacher 

—  is  the  author  of  a  leaflet  written  to  discredit  the  Boy 
Scout  Movement  and  to  promote  the  sale  of  War,  What 
For?  Surely  it  is  no  marvel  that  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  these  leaflets  have  been  scattered  broadcast  by 
the  Socialist  Party.  But  is  it  not  a  marvel  that  for 
thirty  long  years  this  organization  —  the  purpose  of 
which  is  to  overthrow  not  the  political  party  in  power 
but  to  uproot  the  very  foundations  of  the  nation  itself 

—  should  be  permitted  to  hold  the  honorable  status  of  a 
political  party  within  our  borders  and  to  spread  the  doc- 
trine of  revolt  against  lawful  authority  up  to  the  full  ca- 
pacity of  its  treasonable  power. 

Fortunately  the  time  seems  not  far  distant  when  those 
on  each  side  of  the  issue  will  come  to  intellectual  grips, 
Americanism  versus  Bolshevism  is  the  question.  At 
any  rate  the  number  and  the  present  activity  of  the  de- 
fenders of  Americanism  is  greater  than  in  the  past. 
Meantime,  Socialists  are  not  less  active.  Of  course  it 
is  not  the  mere  fact  of  organizations  of  boys  that  is  at- 
tacked but  rather  the  Boy  Scouts  are  attacked  because 
the  principles  and  practises  of  this  organization  make 
it  a  strong  defense  against  the  propaganda  of  red- 
revolution  amongst  school  boys. 

This  matter  was  taken  up  at  the  National  Convention 
of  the  Socialist  party  (Indianapolis  May  12-18,  1912), 
upon  the  report  of  the  Woman's  Department  of  the  or- 
ganization. In  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  and  in  other  places, 
an  anti-Boy  Scout  organization  was  formed.     The  re- 


242  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CimE 

port  relative  to  the  attempted  description  of  the  Boy 
Scouts  in  St.  Louis  is  of  especial  moment  since  the 
Socialists  there  have  a  notable  standing  in  revolutionary 
circles  because  of  their  success  —  noted  in  the  chapter 
Would  Corrupt  the  Army  and  Navy  —  in  causing  the 
sheriff's  posse  to  disband  under  the  leadership  of  the 
editor  of  St.  Louis  Labor  —  G.  A.  Hoehn.  We  quote 
from  Proceedings  S.  P.  Convention  (1912,  p.  205)  : 

"  St.  Louis  has  an  organization  of  boys  which  they  have 
named  the  Universal  Scouts  of  Freedom.  They  are  organized 
by  wards,  as  a  part  of  the  work  of  the  ward  branches  (of  the 
Socialist  party).  Through  their  efforts  one  corps  of  Boy 
Scouts  was  induced  to  disband.  They  also  made  their  in- 
fluence felt  by  supporting  Union  Labor  in  the  stand  it  took 
against  permitting  the  Boy  Scouts  to  take  part  in  the  parade 
on  the  occasion  of  President  Taft's  visit  to  St.  Louis." 

Incidentally  it  seems  advisable  to  note  that  Socialists 
have  for  many  years  been  in  control  of  organized  labor 
in  St.  Louis.  Consequently  a  mixture  of  blasphemy  — 
treason  and  degeneracy  is  the  psychology  within  which 
the  "  Universal  Scouts  of  Freedom  "  have  been  trained 
for  just  such  enterprises  as  that  of  insulting  the  Presi- 
dent of  our  United  States.  Any  copy  of  their  official 
organ  —  Labor  —  will  give  ample  proof  that  these 
poor  boys  are  but  carrying  out  the  program  made  up  for 
them  by  their  Bolshevist  elders  ? 

Happily  the  Boy  Scout  Movement  is  flourishing.  Its 
trops  —  34r8,8Y4  strong  —  needs  no  defense.  There  is 
nothing  but  satisfaction  with  its  work  and  gratitude  for 
its  aid.     Everybody  knows  what  the  boys  did  to  win  the 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  243 

war;  by  selling  bonds,  and  war  saving  stamps;  by  the 
distribution  of  literature;  by  gardening  and  food  con- 
servation activities ;  by  their  nation-wide  census  of  black 
walnut  timber  for  making  gun  stocks  and  aeroplanes ;  for 
their  Red  Cross  work  and  many  other  services  too  nu- 
merous to  mention.  But  after  all  the  most  precious  gift 
to  our  country  from  the  Boy  Scouts  is  the  positive  assur- 
ance we  have  that  manly  boys  are  in  the  making  of  manly 
men,  upon  whom  the  nation  can  depend  for  loyalty, 
efficiency  and  courage.  Boys  who  bow  in  reverence 
and  adoration  before  God,  who  salute  with  love  and  with 
pride  our  Star-Spangled  Banner  are  like  Cornelia's  jew- 
els —  a  priceless  inheritance. 

Socialist  Sunday  Schools 

In  their  official  Year  Book —  1916  —  Socialists  state 
very  clearly  their  purpose  in  maintaining  Sunday 
Schools.  Namely,  "to  make  their  children  realize  the 
class  struggle  and  their  own  part  in  that  struggle."  In 
other  words  the  Socialist  Sunday  School  has  no  relation 
whatsoever  to  the  teaching  that  is  connected  by  these 
three  words  used  in  order.  There  is  no  intention  of 
educating  children  in  the  knowledge  of  God  —  neither 
as  the  First  Cause  nor  as  the  Creator  of  all  mankind. 
No  thought  of  teaching  the  Moral  Law  that  abates  not 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  justice,  though  mercy  is  dispensed  as 
sweet  as  the  cool  of  the  woods  at  dawn.  No  idea  of  giv- 
ing instruction  above  a  crass  self-interest  in  things  ma- 
terial and  sensible.  The  "  Socialist  Sunday  School " 
is  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  public  school  sinc& 


244  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

the  instruction  there  tends  to  "  prejudice  the  children  " 
in  favor  of  "  the  competitive  idea  as  applied  to  industry 
and  all  other  walks  of  life."  As  the  day  of  the  v^eek  for 
teaching  the  class  struggle  to  the  children  is  Sunday  it 
necessarily  carries  a  suggestion  of  religion  even  to  the 
most  atheistic  of  minds.  Then,  too,  there  are  those  who 
still  have  at  least  a  sentimental  longing  for  an  outward 
expression  of  the  worship  of  God.  This  interior  urge  to 
bespeak  the  relation  of  the  immortal  soul  to  its  Creator 
leads  frequently  to  very  ridiculous  ceremonies  that  are 
pathetic  indeed. 

The  Arbeiter  Eing  (Workmen's  Circle)  a  Jewish 
fraternal,  beneficial  propaganda  society,  having  some 
600  branches  with  over  71,000  members,  mostly  in  and 
around  ^ew  York  City,  has  been  foremost  in  organizing 
Socialist  Sunday  Schools.  These  schools  are  estab- 
lished in  many  cities  of  our  country  and  they  are  now 
being  chartered  by  the  Yipsels. 

The  Rand  School  has  a  special  course  for  training 
teachers  for  these  schools.  In  an  article  by  ISTicholas 
Kline  —  author,  "  A  Primer  of  Socialism  for  Chil- 
dren " —  published  in  the  Little  Socialist  Magazine 
(Lawrence,  Mass.,  Vol.  1,  'No.  1)  the  information  is 
given  that  Cincinnati  has  the  largest  Socialist  Sunday 
School  to  date.  It  is  known  as  the  Arm  and  Torch 
League. 

"This  school  does  not  aim  to  teach  theology  or  religion. 
It  confines  its  work  toward  bringing  a  new  aspect  into  the 
ideas  of  childhood  giving  the  child  a  new  hope  in  life. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  245 

"  Children  are  taught  to  respect  everybody,  but  to  bow 
down  to  none.  They  learn  to  sing,  recite  and  play.  They 
also  learn  a  great  deal  about  what  Socialism  means,  and  why 
we  must  have  a  Socialist  Republic  to  be  real  happy.  The 
fundaments  of  politics  are  taught,  and  the  boys  and  girls 
are  encouraged  not  to  play  with  swords,  toy  guns,  etc." 

Quite  in  keeping  with  the  Materialist  Conception  of 
History  there  is  not  the  slightest  hint  that  —  God,  the 
maker  and  ruler  of  the  world,  is  in  His  Holy  Temple. 
But  there  is  a  broad  hint  that  the  teaching  of  patriotism 
is  excluded,  for  the  symbols  of  the  art  of  defense  —  toy 
guns  and  swords  —  are  not  admitted  to  their  sympathy. 
The  "  great  deal "  the  children  learn  about  Socialism 
tells  them  that  the  Arm  and  Torch  signifies  the  Revo- 
lution that  shall  sweep  among  "  Capitalism,"  but  since 
capitalism  means  to  them  the  principles  and  the  insti- 
tutions of  our  country,  these  little  ones  are  taught  loyalty 
to  rebellion  and  treason  to  their  country.  A  system  of 
merits  is  used  that  places  the  red-star-of-rebellion  above 
all  other  marks : 

"  It  may  interest  our  readers  to  know  that  when  a  child 
attends  three  Sundays  in  succession,  his  name  is  placed  on 
the  '  Honor  Roll,'  and  a  silver  star  is  affixed  next  to  his 
name,  after  six  Sundays  he  gets  a  gold  star;  and  after  twelve 
Sundays  of  regular  unbroken  attendance  a  red  star;  a  large 
number  have  the  Red  star.  Every  pupil  having  a  red  star,  the 
high  mark,  is  given  a  copy  of  the  Child's  Primer  of  Socialism. 

Lesson  XXIV  very  well  illustrates  how  class-hatred  is 
taught  —  the  method  by  which  the  "  child's  vision  is 


246  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

widened ;  "  that  innocent  boys  and  girls  may  take  in  the 
"  class  struggle  "  and  their  part  in  that  struggle : 

"  Here  is  a  man  with  a  gun ;  he  is  in  the  troop.  You  see 
he  has  a  nice  suit  on.  Does  he  work?  No,  the  man  with 
the  gun  does  no  work.  His  work  is  to  shoot  men  who  do 
work. 

"  Is  it  nice  to  shoot  men  ?    Would  you  like  to  shoot  a  man  ? 

"  This  man  eats,  drinks,  wears  clothes,  but  he  does  no  work. 
Do  you  think  that  this  is  nice?  Yes,  this  is  nice  for  the  Fat 
Man,  but  bad  for  the  Thin  so  he  owns  the  man  with  the  gun. 
When  the  Thin  man  will  have  the  law  on  his  side,  there 
will  be  no  more  men  with  guns. 

"  Who  makes  the  gun  ?     The  man  who  works. 

"Who  makes  the  nice  suit?     The  man  who  works. 

"  Who  gets  shot  with  the  gun  ?     The  man  who  works. 

"  Who  gets  the  bad  clothes  ?     The  man  who  works. 

"  Is  this  right  ?     No,  this  is  wrong ! 

"THE  MAN  WHO  WOKKS  SHOULD  HAVE  GOOD 
CLOTHES,  AND  ALL  THAT  IS  GOOD. 

"  THE  MAN  WITH  THE  GUN  MUST  GO  TO  WORK, 
TOO. 

"WAR  MUST  COME  TO  AN  END.  WAR  IS  BAD. 
PEACE  IS  GOOD." 

The  Little  Socialist  (July,  1909)  does  not  find  it  dif- 
ficult to  reduce  the  principle  of  rebellion  to  the  under- 
standing of  children : 

"  We  should  not  have  any  rulers.  We  should  not  allow  any 
one  to  govern  us.  So  long  as  we  fear  any  one,  so  long  that 
one  will  be  a  bully  and  a  tyrant." 

This  general  order  for  disobedience  to  authority  — 
parental,  civic,  moral  —  is  followed  up  in  Oct.,  1909,  by 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  247 

more  specific  instructions.     The  children  should  follow 
the  example  of  the  Quakers 

"who  would  not  swear  or  support  the  government  .  .  .  for 
the  flag  does  not  stand  for  justice  and  freedom  for  all  .  .  ." 

Editorially,  in  the  same  issue,  the  children  are  in- 
structed to  despise  and  to  insult  not  only  the  flag,  but  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  Also  to  set  up  a  juven- 
ile court  to  condemn  diplomatic  acts ;  and  to  speak  impu- 
dently to  their  teacher: 

"  Taft  grasped  the  Czar  of  Kussia's  hand.  We  hope  none 
of  you  shook  hands  with  Taft.  Tell  your  teacher  you  despise 
Taft  for  being  friendly  to  a  bloody  tyrant." 

Certainly  a  prolific  crop  of  degenerate  citizens  should 
be  expected.  Especially  when  atheism,  treason  and  in- 
solence are  followed  up  by  the  false  history  that  teaches : 

"  Washington  was  a  contemptible  and  unscrupulous  liar." 
(The  Little  Socialist,  Feb.  10,  1910.) 

A  rather  original  way  of  bringing  children  under  the 
psychology  of  the  hatred  of  patriotism  is  that  of  using 
as  a  border  on  their  banners  this  acrostic : 

Powder 

Asininity 

Trouble 

E 

I 

O 

T 

Idiocy 

Suffering 

Murder 


248  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

No,  this  defamation  of  our  country  is  no  new  thing, 
it  has  proceeded,  here  at  home  for  forty  years  without  let 
or  hindrance,  otherwise  how  should  it  be  that  Bolshev- 
ism is  to-day  a  menace  throughout  the  whole  world. 
The  Seattle  Socialist  (April  10,  1904)  reports  with 
much  malicious  satisfaction,  an  incident  that  should  have 
attracted  the  attention  of  those  who  were  responsible  for 
the  maintenance  of  law  and  order  at  the  time.  The 
Children's  Club  was  being  entertained  by  the  Woman's 
Socialist  Union  of  Omaha.  On  the  walls  hung  a  picture 
of  our  then  President  Roosevelt.  Pointing  to  the  por- 
trait a  ten  year  old  girl  cried  out  "  There's  the  man  who 
wouldn't  receive  Mother  Jones."  Immediately  the 
place  was  in  an  uproar.  "  Take  it  down,"  the  young- 
sters shouted :  "  We  don't  want  that  bad  man  here." 
The  portrait  was  taken  down  in  disgrace  and  one  of 
"  Mother  Jones  "  hung  in  its  place.  "  It  was  an  in- 
spiring moment;  the  audience  joined  the  children  in 
long  continued  applause."     It  was  explained  that : 

"  The  women  teach  the  children  the  principles  of  Socialist 
economy,  and  of  course  no  child  who  has  learned  anything  of 
the  emancipating  mission  of  the  Socialist  party  would  want 
the  picture  of  Roosevelt  to  occupy  a  place  of  honor  at  an 
entertainment  given  by  children  of  the  working  class.  Every 
child  had  been  taught,  and  was  able  to  explain,  that  it  re- 
quires human  labor  power  to  produce  wealth,  and  that  Roose- 
velt upholds  the  present  capitalist  system  whereby  his  class 
—  the  Capitalist  class  —  lives  by  exploiting  the  working 
class." 

This  incident  was  exploited  by  their  press.  Victor 
Berger's   paper  rejoiced:     "The  incident  speaks  vol- 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  249 

umes  for  the  manner  in  which  these  children  have  been 
taught  their  truths  of  Socialism." 

Not  only  is  perverted  economics  taught,  but  also  his- 
toric incitement  to  support  their  false  contentions  in 
Joyne's  Socialist  Catechism  for  children : 

Question :  "  How  are  forms  of  government  changed, 
so  as  to  re-adjust  them  to  the  economical  changes  in  the 
forms  of  production  which  have  been  silently  evolving 
in  the  body  of  society  ? 

Answer :     By  means  of  a  revolution. 

Question :     Give  an  instance  of  this  ? 

Answer :     The  French  Revolution  of  1789." 

Perhaps  no  better  view  of  this  rank  hot-house  va- 
riety of  psychology  that  is  perverting  the  minds  and 
morals  of  many  thousands  in  the  Socialist  Sunday 
Schools  than  to  quote  from  a  long  list  of  questions  made 
up  by  Dr.  Paul  Luttinger  for  working  class  children, 
ages  from  five  to  fifteen,  "  all  Caucasians  of  Jewish  and 
German  descent." 

"  Should   children  obey  their  parents  ? " 

"  What  is  better  a  boy  or  a  girl  ? " 

"  Since  when  do  workingmen  exist  ? " 

"  Why  do  people  get  married  ?  " 

"Who  is  greater  Mayor  Gaynor  or  Tolstoy!" 

"  Do  fairies  and  magicians  really  exist  ? " 

"  What  kind  of  a  school  is  this  ?  " 

"  Are  Dumas  novels  good  to  read  ? " 

"Who  was  Jean  Valjean;  why  are  all  the  girls  crazy 
for  him?" 

"  Supposing  the  air  would  become  water,  could  we  live 
in  it?" 


250  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  Is  it  true  that  we  were  monkeys  ?  " 
"  Is  God  sitting  on  the  clouds  ? " 

This  Socialist  Doctor  assumes  that  "  discipline  is  not 
necessary."  The  "  free  school "  where  children  are 
permitted  to  teach  themselves  —  to  do  their  own  think- 
ing — "  is  the  antidote  of  those  institutions  that  follow 
in  the  footsteps  of  Ignatz  de  Loyola."  The  free  school 
is  "  built  on  the  impregnable  foundation  of  the  child's 
individuality."  Whatever  individuality  should  mean, 
since  "  God  is  a  myth,"  is  certainly  outside  the  purview 
of  common-sense.  But  the  means  employed  of  freeing 
the  child  from  the  authority  and  respect  for  his  parents 
is  clearly  adapted  to  establish  self-conceit  and  arro- 
gance in  the  mind  of  the  child.  Said  this  adept  in 
spoiling  children : 

"I  never  fail  to  ask,  rain  or  shine,  year  in,  year  out.  It 
runs  something  like  this :  '  Now,  children,  did  anything 
happen  this  week  which  puzzled  you?  I  do  not  mean  any 
problems  in  arithmetic,  but  something  to  which  your  teacher 
answered  that  you  were  too  young  to  understand  it,  or  to 
which  your  papa  or  mamma  answered :  "  Don't  bother  me !  " 
If  you  have  such  a  question,  don't  be  afraid  to  ask  it.  We'll 
discuss  it  together.'  It  is  rare  to  receive  no  response  at  all. 
There  are  always,  at  least,  three  or  four  inquiries,  and  while 
they  are  not  all  very  interesting,  there  are  many  that  call 
forth  very  lively  discussions." 

To  comprehend  the  debasing  character  of  these 
"  lively  discussions  "  one  must  hold  in  mind  that  the 
doctrine  taught  rests  upon  the  premise  that  "  religion  is 
a  fantastic  degradation   of  human   nature"    (Marx). 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  251 

Consequently  it  follows  that  "  Socialism  must  conquer 
the  stupidity  of  the  masses  in  so  far  as  this  stupidity 
reveals  itself  in  religious  observances  "  (Liebknecht). 
Bebel  puts  the  matter  in  a  word  "  we  wish  —  in  re- 
ligion, atheism."  Resting  back  with  blind  confidence 
upon  their  crass  ignorance  as  to  the  domain  of  material 
science  and  as  to  the  genuine  findings  of  science  these 
men  and  women  who  tear  with  tooth  and  claw  the  divine 
image  in  the  souls  of  these  little  ones  blandly  assert  that 
since  modern  science  has  clearly  proved  that  there  is 
nothing  left  for  Deity  to  do,  there  is  clearly  no  reason 
to  believe  in  God  and  surely  no  reason  to  fear,  to  love  or 
to  worship  God. 

A  dozen  years  ago  there  was  exhibited  in  a  Socialist 
weekly —  The  Worker  (July  20,  1907)  six  essays  from 
children  all  under  the  age  of  thirteen  years.  The  sub- 
jects treated  were  Killing  and  Stealing,  The  Social  Or- 
ganism —  Fatalism  —  Race  Consciousness,  The  Class 
Struggle;  while  one  boy  and  one  girl  wrote  upon  What 
Socialists  Want.  From  all  these  prodigies  one  conclu- 
sion must  be  drawn  —  there  is  beyond  and  above  the 
Social  organism  —  Nothing.  Should  there  be  any  won- 
der that  the  "  East-side  "  has  supplied  so  many  agents 
to  carry  out  the  Lenin-Trotsky  regime  in  Russia  ?  Es- 
pecially when  one  reflects  that  long  before  these  mon- 
strous little  essays  appeared  here,  the  red-international- 
ists abroad  were  educating,  or  rather  perverting  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  59,225  children  listed  in  their  So- 
cialist Sunday  Schools? 

These  disorderly  minds  that  have  in  charge  the  chil- 


252  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

dren  of  the  Socialist  Sunday  Schools  employ  the  medium 
of  song  to  carry  forth  their  evil  influence.  Some  time 
since  a  foremost  superintendent  of  Socialist  Sunday 
Schools  —  Kendrik  P.  Shedd,  Rochester,  IST.  Y.,  re- 
ported a  visit  to  his  city  by  George  R.  Kirkpatrick. 
After  his  address  that  actually  sizzled  — "  George  has 
hot  stuff  to  hand  out  in  his  talks  " —  the  Socialist  Sun- 
day School  children  sang  in  honor  of  the  author  of  that 
dastardly  book  — "  War,  What  Eor  ?  "  We  give  the 
first  and  the  last  verses : 

In  this  here  song  we  sing  of  war,  war,  war,  war. 
We  know  too  well  what  it  is  for,  for,  for,  for. 
In  war  the  workingmen  they  kill,  kill,  kill,  kill, 
So  that  the  rich  their  coffers  fill,  fill,  fill,  fill. 
I  never  would  a  soldier  be,  be,  be,  be. 
Unless  it  were  to  make  men  free,  free,  free,  free! 
If  they  will  call  me  traitor  if  I  won't  be  shot, 
I'd  rather  be  a  traitor  than  a  patriot. 

Mr.  Shedd  wishes  that  "  George's  broad  smile  "  could 
be  sent  along  with  the  words,  especially  during  the  sing- 
ing of  the  last  verse  as 

"  that  is  the  one  that  always  wins  the  greatest  applause  of 
all,  and  we  Young  People  ought  to  know,  for  we  have  sung 
it  to  many  audiences  during  the  past  three  years.  Read  it 
over  again  and  think.  It  has  a  peculiar  meaning."  (N.  Y. 
Call  May  13,  1913.) 

Erom  the  excerpts  given  of  the  bad  art  employed  in 
demoralizing  the  native  common-sense  of  these  children, 
one  may  readily  imagine  that  the  debates  arranged  for 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  253 

them  are  absurd ;  their  dramas  vicious  in  tone  and  that 
their  parodies  upon  our  national  anthems  should  be  rep- 
rehensible under  the  law.  Yet,  not  content  at  treating 
with  contempt  and  treason  things  that  loyal  men  hold 
dear,  these  Socialist  Sunday  Schools  lay  violent  hands 
on  things  holy.  The  Daily  Express  of  Coventry,  Eng- 
land (Feb.  4,  1911)  reports  the  "baptism"  of  a  four 
months  old  baby  —  Gladys  Rose  Wood  —  in  "  the  cause 
of  the  red-revolution."  The  ceremony  took  place  in  Jus- 
tice Hall  —  the  meeting  place  of  the  British  Socialist 
Party.  First  came  a  "  hymn  "  to  make  rich  men  trem- 
ble: 

"  Then  Mr.  Julian  Tayler  arose,  and  signed  to  a  little  girl 
in  the  audience  —  Ethel  Bates.  Ethel,  who  could  not  have 
been  more  than  seven,  went  on  the  platform,  above  which 
hung  revolutionary  messages.  She  took  the  baby  in  her  armsj 
and,  kneeling  on  one  knee,  recited  some  lines  to  the  child. 
Next  Tayler  took  the  child  in  his  arms,  and,  after  stating 
that  there  would  not  be  any  ritual  about  the  ceremony,  wel- 
comed the  child  into  the  Socialist  movement,  and  pinned  a 
red  token  —  the  symbol  of  the  social  revolution  —  on  her 
breast. 

"  *  I  name  the  child  Gladys  Rose  Wood,'  said  Tayler,  *  and 
I  am  glad  to  welcome  it  into  the  ranks  of  Liberty,  Equality, 
and  Fraternity.' 

"  Tayler  proceeded  to  compare  the  ceremony  with  a  Church 
baptism,  and  went  on  to  say :  — *  We  want  our  children  to 
grow  up  into  free-thinking  men  and  women,  untrammeled  by 
priests  or  the  Church.' " 

Surely  this  was  a  logical  preparation  for  thrusting 
into  the  hands  of  children  a  banner  bearing  the  motto, 
"  There  is  no  God,"  to  be  carried  through  the  streets 


254  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

for  tlie  purpose  of  gathering  recruits  for  the  camp  of 
the  Bolsheviki.  But  the  question  arises,  has  civil  so- 
ciety divorced  itself  from  the  knowledge  that  God  is  the 
author  of  nations  ?  Are  the  men  in  the  seats  of  the 
mighty  prepared  to  suffer  the  deluge?  It  is  certain 
that  baptism  by  water  and  the  Holy  Ghost  inducts 
the  child  into  the  Living  Organism  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  it  is  also  as  certain  that  it  makes  of  him  a 
loyal  giver  to  Caesar  of  those  things  that  belong  to 
Csesar.  While  this  blasphemous  dedication  of  the  child 
to  the  "  social  revolution  "  makes  at  once  of  the  little  one 
an  enemy  of  God  and  a  traitor  to  her  country.  Blessed 
Jesus!  save  these  little  ones  from  being  despoiled,  by 
their  owm  parents,  of  their  right  to  liberty  and  happiness 
here  and  of  heaven  hereafter  ? 

Because  the  Ten  Commandments  —  the  natural  law 
graven  in  the  heart  of  every  man  —  stand  as  a  granite 
wall  between  the  Socialists  and  their  goal,  their  peevish 
minds  are  ever  provoked  to  rid  themselves  of  these 
mandates  from  the  hand  of  Almighty  God. 

Ridicule  may  indeed  laugh  out  of  court  what  is  un- 
sound. More  than  this,  it  can,  as  the  Socialist  arch- 
priest  of  ridicule  —  George  Bernard  Shaw  —  well 
knows,  silence  in  the  timid  the  defense  of  the  good  and 
the  true.  So  it  is  with  a  facetious  audacity,  so  bold 
in  its  wickedness  as  almost  to  pass  the  belief  of  self- 
respecting  men  that  Socialists  set  forth  a  red-decalogue 
all  on  their  own  materialist  foundation.  Of  course, 
with  the  proviso  that  human  life  is  an  evolutionary 
product  from  the  lowest  form  of  life  and  has  no  better 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  255 

source  than  fire  mist  and  the  nebula  theory  that  is  so 
delightfully  rotary  in  its  round  and  ever  larger  round 
upward  and  onward  forever  —  from  nowhere  to  no- 
where. Forsooth !  Socialism's  very  own  ten  com- 
mandments "  express  the  higher  theology  of  the  new 
day."  Besides  it  is  ever  so  much  nicer  and  more  holy 
than  any  revelation  from  God  that  Moses  could  have 
had  wit  enough  to  make  during  the  infancy  of  the  race. 
One  of  these  unspeakable  red-decalogues  had  its  origin 
in  the  United  Kingdom  for  use  in  their  hundreds  of 
Socialist  Sunday  Schools.  In  our  owa  country  the 
Socialist  Sunday  School  is  conducted  with  a  dash.  To 
"  monstrous  difficulties  and  horrible  opposition "  they 
answer  "  Ish  Ka  Bibble !  " 

"  But,"  says  another,  "  you  are  atheistic ;  you  do  not  teach 
the  Bible ! "  No,  brother,  except  as  a  piece  of  literature 
which  has  played  its  irajwrtant  role  in  the  world.  In  our 
school  we  don't  scare  little  children  with  big  fish  stories,  nor 
do  we  make  them  rave  in  their  childish  sleep  from  ill-consid- 
ered talk  of  hell  fire  and  damnation ! 

"  But  you  don't  teach  Jesus !  "  Yes,  just  as  we  would 
teach  Socrates  or  Darwin  or  Susan  B.  Anthony  or  Debs,  or 
any  other  mortal  who  has  had  a  philosophy  of  living  and 
has  led  a  commendable  life. 

Besides  they  have  some  "  Don'ts  "  to  counteract  the 
effect  of  those  Christian 

"  Sunday  schools  that  deal  in  dope  and  chloroform,  let  us 
have  Sunday  schools  that  teach  children  about  working  class 
emancipation  and  inspire  them  with  the  spirit  of  intelligent 
rebellion  and  international  brotherhood  and  solidarity." 


256  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CTJE-E  . 

MoDEEN  Schools 

Some  ten  years  ago  New  York  City  became  the  center 
of  a  national  movement  to  establish  the  Modern  School 
—  Ferrer  Schools  as  they  are  popularly  termed.  These 
schools  are  now  established  in  several  places  throughout 
the  country.  The  parent  school  was  founded  by 
Leonard  D.  Abbott,  William  Thurston  Brown,  Hutch- 
ings  Hapgood,  Charles  Edward  Russell,  Jack  London, 
Upton  Sinclair,  Emma  Goldman,  Eose  Pastor  Stokes, 
Alexander  Berkman,  J.  Phelps  Stokes,  William  Durant 
and  other  Socialist-anarchist-radicals  of  national  promi- 
nence. Since  the  Modern  Schools  were  established  to 
perpetuate  the  work  and  to  honor  the  memory  of  Fran- 
cisco Ferrer,  who  was  executed  in  Barcelona,  Spain,  it 
is  appropriate  that  we  set  down  something  of  this  man 
whose  taking  off  put  the  radicals  of  all  the  world  in  an 
uproar. 

Francisco  Fekrer 

In  the  year  1909  trouble  arose  on  the  frontier  of  the 
Spanish  possessions  in  Africa  with  the  Moorish  Moun- 
taineers. To  defend  Spanish  interests,  reserves  were 
called  to  the  colors  in  Barcelona.  This  official  act  was 
the  signal  for  Socialist  agitators  to  stir  up  the  populace 
against  permitting  the  government  to  send  troops  to  the 
battle  front.  Under  the  leadership  of  Senor  Maura,  the 
ministry  insisted  that  the  interests  of  Spain  be  pro- 
tected and  troops  were  sent  to  Melilla.  Agitation,  in 
revolt,  had  by  now  proceeded  so  far  that  the  demand 
for  "  mass  action  "  was  answered  by  strikes.     Disorder 


BOLSHEVISM  ]^N  SCHOOLS  257 

followed  upon  disorder.  During  the  first  night  tele- 
graph and  telephone  lines  were  cut,  gas  and  electric 
lighting  plants  destroyed  and  cars  were  overturned. 
The  fray  was  bloody,  policemen  were  shot,  firemen  and 
civilians  stoned  and  wounded.  The  next  day,  July  27, 
1909,  martial  law  was  declared,  thus  turning  all  the 
powers  of  the  government  in  Barcelona  over  to  military 
officials.  In  conspicuous  places  throughout  the  city 
were  posted  proclamations  containing  the  military  code, 
adopted  by  a  liberal  Parliament  in  1890. 
We  cite  two  sections  of  the  code: 

Article  3.  Jurisdiction  of  offenses  affecting  public  order  in 
any  political  or  social  sense  comes  under  my  authority;  and 
the  authors  of  them  can  be  tried  by  summary  court-martial. 

Article  4.  Persons  publishing  notices  or  directions  in  any 
form  whatsoever  tending  to  disobedience  of  military  orders 
will  be  considered  as  guilty  of  sedition;  as  well  as  those 
who  make  attempts  against  freedom  of  labor,  or  cause  im- 
pediment or  destruction  of  railroads,  street  car  lines,  tele- 
graph or  telephone  lines,  or  any  other  conductor  of  elec- 
tricity, or  water  mains  or  gas  pipes. 

Whereupon,  faced  with  the  drastic  measures  neces- 
sary to  restore  order  bedlam  broke  loose,  for  the  Social- 
ists of  Barcelona  had  the  desperate  courage  to  put  the 
Hillquitian  war  cry  into  action  —  they  actually 
"mounted  the  barricades  and  fought  like  tigers."  As 
it  was  not  supposed  that  churches,  schools  and  convents 
would  be  attacked,  the  banks,  postoffice  and  other  public 
buildings  were  well  guarded  to  invite  attack.  Evidently 
these  authorities  had  yet  to  learn  that  it  is  a  Marxian 


258  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

dogma  that  the  church  is  but  a  camouflaged  police  force 
for  capitalism.  As  a  matter  of  fact  churches,  schools, 
day-nurseries,  kindergartens  and  other  charitable  insti- 
tutions of  defenseless  women  were  assaulted,  burned  and 
otherwise  destroyed.  Thus  began  "  bloody  week,"  the 
excesses  of  which  have,  perhaps,  since  been  equaled  by 
the  Bolsheviki  in  Russia.  The  outrages  put  the  pen  to 
blush.  We  quote  from  the  late  Andrew  J.  Shipman, 
Esq.,  New  York  City,  an  authority  of  the  highest  in- 
tegrity on  the  Barcelona  rebellion.  Mr.  Shipman  was 
in  Spain  during  this  time  and  he  remained  throughout 
the  trial  of  the  ring-leader: 

"  It  is  sickening  to  tell  of  the  savagery  of  the  mob.  Even 
the  dead  nuns  were  dragged  from  their  coffins,  and  paraded 
with  revolting  and  obscene  orgies,  and  then  thrown  into  the 
gutters.  Clerical  teachers  in  the  schools  were  stripped,  tor- 
tured, and  shot.  Even  little  children  were  not  spared. 
Churches  that  had  stood  as  monuments  from  the  days  of  the 
Crusades  were  destroyed;  while  everything  valuable  was 
plundered  from  them  and  from  schools  and  religious  houses. 
They  even  stole  the  clothes  and  petty  jewelry  of  the  girls  in 
the  boarding-schools." 

Francisco  Eerrer  was  arrested  as  the  "  author  and 
chief  of  the  rebellion  " —  as  the  man  who  "  instigated 
and  directed  the  uprising."  During  the  trial  Eerrer 
was  proved  to  have  been  in  active  collusion  with  the 
rioters  for  the  first  three  days,  and  then  to  have  dis- 
appeared from  the  city.  When  captured  he  was  away 
from  his  usual  place  of  abode  and  minus  his  wonted 
full  beard.     Being  questioned,  Ferrer  claimed  to  be 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  259 

making  a  walking  tour  through  Cataluna,  on  his  way 
home  from  the  Esperanto  Congress  to  which  he  was  a 
delegate. 

Ferrer's  picture  is  absent  from  the  group  of  delegates 
to  the  Congress  that  was  photographed  at  Tibidabo; 
and  when  examined  as  to  his  knowledge  of  Esperanto, 
proved  to  be  ignorant  of  the  language. 

Seventy  witnesses,  Republicans,  Liberals,  Anarchists 
and  Labor  leaders  gave  evidence  in  conclusive  proof 
of  the  complicity  of  Ferrer  in  the  riotous  demonstra- 
tions. An  able  lawyer  defended  Ferrer  but  not  one 
witness  was  put  on  the  stand  to  refute  the  charges 
brought  against  him.  The  trial  was  held  in  open  court 
and  lasted  twenty-eight  days;  press  representatives 
from  many  countries  being  in  attendance.  Ferrer  was 
found  guilty  of  rebellion  and  treason.  He  was  sen- 
tenced to  be  shot  in  compliance  with  Article  238  of 
Spanish  law  —  the  sentence  being  confirmed  by  the 
Captain-General  and  approved  by  the  Ministry. 

Upon  the  execution  of  Ferrer  the  Socialist-Anarchist- 
Atheist-Radical  leaders  throughout  the  world  sounded 
their  toxin  calling  upon  the  mob  to  vent  its  ire,  not 
upon  those  who  uphold  unjust  practises  and  work 
iniquity  in  industry,  commerce  and  finance,  but  more 
especially  upon  the  very  prop  and  pillar  of  civil  society 
—  the  Christian  religion.  They  know  very  well,  to  de- 
Catholicize  Europe  is  to  de-Christianize  the  world;  to 
de-Christianize  the  world  is  to  open  the  flood  gates  of 
disorder  —  and  disorder  is  Socialism's  opportunity. 

Rome  was  naturally,  or  rather  unnaturally,  the  point 


260  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

of  attack !  Troops  were  called  out  to  protect  the  Span- 
ish Embassy,  the  Quirinal  and  the  Vatican;  Pius  X, 
the  priests,  the  sisters  and  all  things  Catholic  were  re- 
viled while  the  mob  paraded  the  streets,  shouting, 
"  Down  with  re-action !  "  "  Down  with  the  Jesu- 
its!" "Down  with  Merry  del  Val!"  "Long 
live  Ferrer !  "  In  Paris  rioting  followed  the 
Socialist-Anarchist  meetings;  there  were  1,000 
persons  crying  "  Vive  Ferrer ! "  "  Abas  la  Cal- 
cotte !  "  and  singing  "  L'Internationale."  In  Trieste 
(Austria-Hungary)  after  a  meeting  addressed  by  the 
Socialist  Deputies  thousands  of  these  protestants  made 
their  way  through  the  streets  creating  such  a  tumult 
that  "  all  the  theaters  and  cafes  were  compelled  to  close." 
The  demonstration  in  Brussels  lasted  one  whole  week; 
processions  marched  through  the  streets  with  draped  red 
flags  shouting  "  Down  with  Alfonso !  "  "  Vengeance 
for  Ferrer !  "  Their  efforts  to  reach  the  Spanish  Em- 
bassy were  repulsed  by  the  soldiers.  An  exciting  scene 
was  created  by  the  Socialists  in  the  Municipal  Council 
at  Boulogne-sur-Seine  (France)  by  an  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt to  change  the  name  of  a  public  square  to  "  Place 
Ferrer."  In  Brussels,  sixty  Belgian  Free-thought 
Societies,  made  up  of  Socialists  and  Anarchists,  un- 
veiled a  marble  slab  in  Ferrer's  honor  in  the  Grand 
Palace.  Later  a  nude  male  figure  lifting  high  a  torch, 
"  the  symbol  of  the  triumph  of  light  over  darkness,"  was 
dedicated  to  Ferrer's  honor  at  Place  Sainte  Catherine, 
Brussels.  On  this  eventful  occasion  messages  were  read 
from  the  radicals  of  many  nations  in  praise  of  "  the 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  261 

hero  "  who  had  braved  the  power  of  medieval  darkness. 
The  Barcelona  City  Council  protested  against  the  erec- 
tion of  this  statue,  declaring  it  to  be  an  insult  to 
Spain. 

Through  the  recommendation  of  the  National  Office 
of  the  Socialiast  party,  protest  meetings  were  held 
throughout  our  own  country.  The  New  York  Call 
(Vol.  2,  No.  261)  editorially  asked  for  —  "one  or  two 
million  signatures  —  to  a  petition  demanding  the  ex- 
pulsion of  the  Spanish  Ambassador  and  the  severance  of 
diplomatic  relations  with  Spain,  as  a  protest  against 
the  murder  of  Ferrer." 

The  radicals  of  New  York  filled  Carnegie  Hall  to 
the  doors  to  "  Show  Passionate  Indignation  "  and  to 
hear  Charles  Edward  Russell,  Joshua  Wanhope,  Henry 
Frank,  Edward  F.  Cassidy,  Leonora  O'Eeilly  and 
others  "  denounce  in  the  strongest  terms  the  Catholic 
Church  "  for  its  part  in  the  murder  of  Ferrer.  Mr. 
Eussell  climaxed  the  impassioned  speech  on  this  oc- 
casion, attacking  the  Catholic  Church  and  advocating 
revolt : 

"  You  say  that  I  am  preaching  a  revolutionary  doc- 
trine. Yes,  it  is  a  revolutionary  doctrine  and  I  preach 
it.  What  doctrine  hut  revolution  should  a  man  preach 
in  the  face  of  a  monstrous  tyranny  f  "  (N.  Y.  Call,  Oct. 
20,  1909.) 

A  letter  from  Rabbi  Stephen  S.  Wise  was  read  ex- 
pressing regret  at  being  unable  to  be  present  at  the 
Carnegie  Hall  gathering  since  "  I  am  entirely  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  meeting."     Dr.  Wise's  letter  concludes : 


262  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"I  bespeak  the  sympathy  of  the  meeting  to-night,  not 
only  for  the  family  of  Professor  Ferrer,  but  for  the  heroes 
in  Russia  and  other  lands  who  are  seeking  to  make  their 
countries  free.  And  may  the  martyrdom  of  Ferrer  move  us 
to  safeguard  anew  the  precious  boon  of  freedom,  which  is 
the  very  life  of  our  American  democracy." 

We  shall  give  the  Eabbi  the  benefit  of  the  assumption 
that  his  sympathy  "  for  the  family  of  Professor  Ferrer  " 
is  meant  for  the  family  that  he  deserted,  not  for  that 
of  his  first  "  free  union "  nor  for  the  family  of  his 
second  mistress  —  Soledad  Villaf ranca. 

We  give  an  excerpt  from  the  New  York  Call's  Oct. 
24,  1909 — very  sympathetic  report  of  the  parade  in 
honor  of  Ferrer  by  some  Italian  and  other  radical 
societies. 

"  Up  Fifth  Avenue  past  the  palaces  of  the  rich  and 
the  hated  spires  of  that  church  the  hands  of  whose  priests 
are  red  with  the  blood  of  Francisco  Ferrer.  Their  red 
banners  draped  in  blade  were  lowered  in  contempt  as 
they  passed  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  and  then  burst  from 
hundred  of  throats  passionate  cries  in  many  tongues  of 
'  Down  with  the  Church/  '  Down  with  the  Jesuits,'  '  Ab- 
basso  St.  Patrick's, '  '  Eviva  Ferrer,'  '  hong  live  the 
Revolution.' " 

In  Boston,  Prof.  Charles  Zueblin,  Edwin  D.  Mead 
and  other  of  the  elegant  Nevs^  England  radicals  joined 
with  the  Socialist  party  in  proclaiming  that  a  great 
light  in  the  world  had  been  put  out  by  the  lingering 
powers  of  darkness.  In  Chicago  Arthur  Morrow  Lewis 
and  the  ^National  Secretary  of  the  Socialist  Party  led 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  263 

the  anti-Catholic  orations.  In  Milwaukee,  Victor 
Berger  was  heard;  while  in  San  Francisco  Ferrer 
was  given  a  standing  among  the  red-flag  martyrs  of 
the  world  by  Austin  Lewis  and  Selig  Schulberg.  In- 
deed no  Socialist  body  was  too  poor  to  do  Ferrer  honor. 
In  Lancaster,  Pa.,  they  "  placed  the  seal  of  approval  to 
the  plan  of  Prof.  Ernest  Haeckel  of  Germany  to  erect 
a  Ferrer  School  right  before  the  Pope's  eyes,  in  the 
Plaza  of  St.  Peter,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  in 
front  of  the  Vatican  in  Rome,  as  a  testimonial  of  the 
work  of  the  great  martyr." 

For  a  little  time  little  differences  were  forgotten, 
to  be  sure,  both  Socialists  and  Anarchists  seek  a  "  free 
society."  One  would  use  the  vote  and  let  the  "  State 
die  out  " ;  the  other  would  take  the  shorter  route  and 
blow  the  State  to  smithereens.  That  either  means  of 
arriving  at  their  aim  is  inconsequent  has  not  dawned 
upon  the  one  or  the  other.  For  they  have  not  yet  com- 
prehended the  truth  that  so  long  as  this  old  globe  is 
inhabited  by  mankind  the  Catholic  Church  shall  be  here 
to  give  that  happiness  on  earth  that  passeth  understand- 
ing, by  bringing  forgiveness,  to  repentant  sinners. 

Emma  Goldman  —  the  most  gifted  of  Anarchists  — 
gave  to  the  world  her  views  upon  the  platform  in 
Mother  Earth.  We  quote  from  the  November,  1909, 
issue : 

"Never  before  in  ike  history  of  the  world  has  one  man's 
death  so  thoroughly  united  struggling  manlcind." 

"Never  before  has  one  man's  death  called  forth  such  a 
universal  cry  of  indignation." 


264  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"Never  before  has  one  man's  death  so  completely  torn  the 
veil  from  the  sinister  face  of  the  hydra-headed  monster,  the 
Catholic  Church." 

"  Before  the  awakened  consciousness  of  mankind  the  world 
over  the  Catholic  Church  stands  condemned  as  the  instigator 
and  perpetrator  of  the  foul  crime  committed  at  Montjuich. 
It  is  this  awakened  consciousness  which  has  resurrected 
Francisco  Ferrer." 

However,  since  Mother  Earth  was  unstinted  in  its 
praise  of  Czolgosz,  the  murderer  of  President  Mc- 
Kinley,  we  submit  that  candid-minded  citizens  should 
find  in  Miss  Goldman's  foul  denunciations  something 
in  favor  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

Alexander  Berkman  was  outside  of  prison  walls 
when  he  paid  tribute: 

"  Ferrer's  martyrdom  has  called  forth  almost  universal  in- 
dignation against  the  cabal  of  priest  and  ruler  that  doomed  a 
noble  man  to  death. 

"  The  martyrdom  of  Ferrer  will  not  have  been  in  vain  if 
through  it,  the  Anarchists  —  as  well  as  other  radical  elements 
—  will  realize  that,  in  social  as  well  as  in  individual  life, 
conception  precedes  birth.  The  social  conception  which  we 
need,  and  must  have,  is  the  creation  of  libertarian  centers 
which  shall  radiate  the  atmosphere  of  the  dawn  into  the  life 
of  humanity."     (Mother  Earth,  Nov.,  1910.) 

Eose  Pastor  Stokes  not  alone  paid  with  her  voice  and 
her  pen  tributes  to  Ferrer,  she  gave  to  the  schools  — 
monuments  to  his  name  —  her  money.  "  Last  year 
we  echoed  Ferrer  s  cry,  'Long  Live  the  Modern  School! ' 
This  year  we  are  helping  the  Modem  School  to  live! 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  265 

His  soul  is  marching  on.  How  wonderful  it  is!  "  Yes, 
truly,  though  it  is  not  less  debasing  than  it  is  wonderful 
that  in  our  own  free  America  —  the  land  of  her  adop- 
tion —  that  "  Dear  Rose  "  may  be  kept  constantly  in  the 
lime-light  by  her  advocacy  of  Ferrer  Schools,  the  red 
flag,  birth-control  and  treason,  any  one  of  which  should 
be  sufficient  to  exclude  Mrs.  Stokes  from  public  view. 

Before  a  California  audience  {The  World,  Oakland, 
March  28,  1919)  William  Thurston  Brown  depicts  the 
"  freedom  "  of  the  Ferrer  School  at  Stelton,  N.  J.,  and 
makes  it  his  mission  to  "  force "  this  freedom  upon 
the  public  schools  of  our  country.  As  this  freedom 
permits  the  pupils  of  Stelton,  who  "  enter  into  the  spirit 
of  the  Russian  revolution  "  to  "  educate  themselves  " 
authority  is  expelled  from  the  school  room.  Of  course 
this  is  logical,  since  if  man  comes  from  the  troglodyte 
authority  comes  from  nowhere. 

Upton  Sinclair  modestly  informs  his  admirers  that 
it  took  "  twenty-five  years  "  to  compile  his  little  volume 
—''  The  Profits  of  Religion"  (Pasadena,  Calif.,  1918) 
in  which  he  reprints  old  crass  calumnies  against  the 
Catholic  Church  to  delight  the  darkened  mind.  It 
seems  to  matter  little  to  "  Uptie  "  that  many  of  these 
falsehoods  were  plainly  refuted  centuries  before  his 
booklet  was  written  in  which  he  does  praise  to  his 
"  friend  "  after  that  dear  friend  had  separated  him  from 
his  first  wife.  Mayhap  it  was  to  advertise  his  Socialist 
freedom  ?  However  that  may  be,  this  I-I-I-I gen- 
tleman did  put  one  new  falsehood  together  with  an  old 
one  —  on  the  principle  that  two  negatives  make  one 


266  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

positive  —  and  thus  at  once  "  Uptie  "  traduces  Christ's 
Church,  spreads  the  propaganda  of  irresponsibility,  and 
makes  a  name  and  money  for  himself  by  his  defense  of 
Ferrer.  Just  as  the  Catholic  Church  ''  Burned  Gio- 
daho  Bi-uno  for  teaching  that  the  earth  moves  around 
the  sun — that  same  Churchy  in  the  name  of  the  three- 
headed  God,  sent  out  Francesco  Ferrer  to  the  firing 
squad;  if  it  does  not  do  the  same  thing  to  the  author  of 
this  book,  it  will  be  solely  because  of  the  police/'  (p. 
42.) 

Some  twenty-five  minutes  of  honest  seeking  after  his- 
toric truth  would  be  time  enough  to  put  to  rout  the 
fraud  and  falsehood  gathered  in  twenty-five  years,  that 
Bruno  was  burned  for  the  astronomical  opinions  that  he 
held.  The  Catholic  Church  is  now  and  ever  has  been 
the  Patron  of  Science.  It  was  Copernicus  who  made 
the  scientific  discovery  that  the  earth  moves  around  the 
sun  —  Copernicus  was  a  priest.  Just  a  little  of  the 
money  made  out  of  the  profits  of  Mr.  Sinclair's  ir- 
religious little  book,  that  took  twenty-five  of  his  pre- 
cious years,  if  put  into  a  reliable  book  relative  to  the 
matter  would  give  proof  that  Copernicus  was  honored 
at  Rome  for  his  discovery;  that  it  was  a  Prince  of  the 
Church  —  Cardinal  Schonberg  —  who  urged  Coper- 
nicus to  publish  his  scientific  discoveries  for  the  benefit 
of  the  world ;  that  his  book  was  dedicated  to  Pope  Paul 
III  and  that  the  great  Father  Copernicus  retired  upon 
a  benefice  provided  by  the  Pope.  Then,  again,  if 
"  Uptie  "  had  that  gift  implored  by  Bobbie  Burns,  he 
might  see  that  it  is  quite  one  thing  to  write  scandalously 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  26Y 

about  the  Catholic  Church  and  vaingloriously  about 
himself  in  his  sunny  Pasadena  home  and  quite  another 
to  spur  men  on  to  riot,  since  Ferrer's  act  was  deemed 
consequential  enough  to  waste  shot  upon. 

UpUe^  Uptie  sat  on  a  wall 

Uptie,  Uptie  had  a  great  fall 

All  the  king's  oxen  and  all  the  Tcing's  men 

Cannot  put  Uptie  together  again. 

From  the  many  editorials,  that  appeared  during  the 
years  that  this  sensation  was  fresh,  we  select  excerpts 
from  two  that  are  fairly  representative  of  the  spirit 
with  which  the  atrocious  Ferrer  was  upheld  and  the 
animus  that  was  directed  against  the  Catholic  Church ; 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the  Church  of  Christ  had 
nothing  to  do  with  his  trial  or  his  execution. 

"  Ferrer  was  killed  by  order  of  the  Spanish  Movement  and 
with  the  approval  of  all  the  exploiters  of  the  Spanish  people 
and  of  the  Catholic  Church"     (Call,  Oct.  13,  1910.) 

"Many  will  remember  the  date,  October  12,  1909,  that  the 
Spanish  government,  urged  by  the  Catholic  Church,  pro- 
nounced the  death  sentence  upon  Francisco  Ferrer  because 
he  dared  to  preach  the  truth  as  he  believed  it."  The  Minne- 
sota Socialist,  Minneapolis,  Sept.  26,  1913. 

The  division  of  the  Socialist  movement  known  as  the 
"  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World "  shall  be  called 
upon,  otherwise  the  most  fecund  of  the  diatribes  against 
the  Church  would  be  left  out.  This  organization  sprang 
quickly  into  the  lists  of  Ferrer's  idolaters.  After  many 
where-ases  anent  "  Bloody  Mary "  and  other  historic 


268  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

perversions,  the  officers  give  Ferrer's  last  words  as  a 
rich  legacy  that  spells  emancipation  — "  Aim  straight ; 
Long  live  the  Modem  Schools  " —  and  then 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  shall, 
in  the  spirit  of  the  murdered  scholar,  herald  among  the  work- 
ers the  mission  of  a  united  working  class.  One  in  the  spirit 
of  education  and  organization,  whose  fruition  will  be  a  so- 
ciety unfettered  by  wealth  or  church;  a  society  that  shall 
make  impossible  the  murder  of  any  individual  at  the  behest  of 
a  tyrannical  priest  by  an  illiterate  soldiery,  the  hirelings  of 
an  imbecile  king. 

"  Priest  and  King !  How  long,  0  Workers,  shalt  thou  tol- 
erate their  crimes? 

"  T.  J.  Cole, 
J.  J.  Ettor, 
H.  L.  Gaines, 
Francis  Miller, 
Thos.  Whitehead, 

General  Executive  Board. 
Wm.  E.  Trautman, 

General  Organizer. 
Vincent  St.  John, 

General  Sec.-Treas. 
The  Industrial  Worher,  Spokane,  Wash.,  Dec.  15,  1909. 

Besides  the  I.  W.  W.  the  United  Hebrew  trades  adds 
its  full  strength  to  the  Socialist  left  wing.  In  the 
needle  industry  alone  it  has  some  300,000  men  and 
women  who  conceive  themselves  to  be  victims  of  the 
competitive  capitalist  system  and  resolve  to  free  them- 
selves through  representatives  of  their  own  "  party  and 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  269 

class "  who  shall  have  been  educated,  thoroughly,  in 
the  principles  of  the  modern  school.  In  estimating  the 
volume  of  the  disruptive  and  destructive  force  of  these 
organized  wage-earners  it  should  be  held  in  view  that 
this  body  of  men  and  women  have  none  of  those  fond 
traditions  of  nationhood  that  other  races  have  to  temper 
somewhat  their  rage  when  it  is  lashed  into  a  fury  by 
artful  demagogues.  Yet  they  have  the  vote  by  which 
to  get  control  of  our  government  for  the  determined 
purpose  of  confiscating  all  the  capital  in  private  hands 
as  the  basis  for  the  complete  overturning  of  our  con- 
stitution and  institutions. 

Even  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  that  has 
never  denied  the  inherent  right  of  a  man  to  operate 
private  property  for  a  legitimate  profit,  came  very  near 
committing  the  monstrous  error  of  officially  classing 
Ferrer  with  our  own  greatest  Americans  —  Washington 
and  Lincoln  —  who  stood  to  the  issue  that  the  people  of 
this  nation  might  be  free.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  the 
Fraternal  delegate  to  the  A.  F.  of  L. —  Father  Peter 
E.  Dietz  —  that  the  contemplated  action  of  the  Execu- 
tive Council  of  that  body  did  not  come  to  evil  fruition 
at  the  Toronto  Convention  in  1909. 

Ah !  yes,  there  is  rhyme  galore  as  this  Anarchist- 
Socialist  group  have  the  most  language  to  spare. 
Mother  Earth  sets  forth  a  Song  of  Solidarity  by  Bayard 
Boyesen,  formerly  an  instructor  in  Columbia  Univer- 
sity, dedicated  reverently  to  the  memory  of  Ferrer  who 
was  "  murdered  by  the  House  of  Bourbon  and  the 
Church  of  Rome." 


270  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  But  the  rocks  shall  split  asunder ; 
Let  kings  and  Pope  beware 
When  brave  men  rise  and  thunder 
*  For  Freedom  and  Ferrer ! '  " 

The  Social  Democratic  Herald  (Milwaukee)  aspiring 
to  the  wreath  of  fame  puts  history,  prophecy  and  blas- 
phemy into  these  words: 

"  One  sad  October  morn,  at  the  stroke  of  six, 
In  this  very  fortress  of  Montjuich, 
There  stood  erect  before  that  wall  of  shame, 
(Wrought  by  a  boy,  Alfonso  is  his  name,  the  last  king 

of  Spain) 
A  man  of  fame,  the  pride  of  Spain; 
He  never  bowed  to  king  nor  pope 
And  guided  people  in  their  hope, 
He  must  then  fall  before  that  wall. 
For  so  ordained  the  Holy  See 
And  the  beast  who  a  king  would  be !  " 

Mr.  Eunsonshall  in  the  New  Yorh  Call  speaks  his 
little  piece  to  show  their  groveling  lust  for  earthly 
power : 

"  Four  shots  rang  out,  and  Ferrer  fell ; 

*  So  perish  Anarchy,'  they  cried, 
'  So  die  each  hated  infidel.' 

The  warm  Earth  answered,  '  Ye  have  lied ' ; 
And  Liar  Priest,  and  Liar  King, 

And  Liar  minion  swine  of  Spain, 
Within  our  hearts  your  doom  we  sing. 

And  vengeance  seek  for  Ferrer's  pain; 
So  let  it  fl&me,  that  worthy  name." 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  271 

Then,  too,  -the  Melting  Pot  shall  speak  out  its  ven- 
omous mind  for  it  makes  history  quite  regardless  of 
truth.  Indeed,  this  one  excerpt  alone  was  sufficient 
to  tell  what  it  is  that  gives  motive  to  the  Socialist  move- 
ment taken  as  a  whole  —  hatred  of  truth  —  of  God. 

Those  who  imagine  that  the  spirit  of  the  bloody  Inquisition 
is  gone  from  the  Koman  Church,  who  think  that  Rome  would 
not  still  murder  heretics  wherever  it  had  the  power,  need 
but  only  turn  to  four  short  years  ago  this  month  —  October, 
1909  —  and  recall  the  martyrdom  of  Francisco  Ferrer,  the 
great  Spanish  educator,  whose  only  crime  was  that  he  ad- 
vocated a  system  of  public  schools  in  Spain  free  from  the 
control  of  the  Catholic  priests.  The  law  of  Spain  forbids 
any  schools  where  the  Roman  Catholic  religion  is  not  taught. 
This  law  Francisco  Ferrer  wanted  repealed.  He  was  tried 
for  treason  against  the  King  and  the  Holy  Church.  He  was 
convicted,  sentenced  to  death,  and  was  shot  on  October  13, 
1909.  The  pope  was  appealed  to  by  nearly  every  scholar  in 
Europe,  as  well  as  by  Ferrer's  own  family.  One  word  from 
the  Vatican  would  have  saved  Ferrer's  life.  THE  POPE 
REMAINED  DUMB  —  and  one  more  damnable  crime,  one 
more  bloody  butchery,  was  chalked  up  to  the  account  of  the 
infamous  Church  that  has  cursed  the  earth  for  centuries. 

Remember  —  the  accusers  of  Ferrer  were  ALL  Roman 
priests  —  his  only  crime  was  his  advocacy  of  free,  secular 
schools  —  the  government  of  Spain,  with  a  cowardly  pup  for 
a  king,  killed  Ferrer  because  the  Roman  Church,  which  is 
the  State  religion  of  Spain,  wanted  Ferrer  killed.  Wouldn't 
you  like  to  have  this  outfit  rule  America?  Aren't  they  a  fine 
lot  to  tell  you  that  Socialism  is  wicked?  (St.  Louis,  Mo., 
Oct.,  1913.) 

We  have  but  to  recall  the  important  facts  in  this 


272  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

case  to  satisfy  all  those  to  whom  truth  and  reason 
appeals. 

First. —  The  Catholic  Church  neither  directly  nor 
indirectly  had  anything  to  do  with  Ferrer's  arrest, 
conviction  and  death.  Not  a  priest  or  any  one  con- 
nected with  the  Religious  Orders  of  Spain  appeared 
against  Ferrer.  On  the  contrary,  the  Church  did  offer 
him  the  consolation  of  religion,  which  he  refused  to  the 
end.  Moreover,  Pope  Pius  X  did  appeal  to  King  Al- 
fonso for  clemency  to  Ferrer.  It  was  by  the  govern- 
ment decided  that  for  "  reasons  of  state "  the  full 
penalty  should  be  paid  by  the  "  chief  instigator "  of 
the  revolt. 

Second. —  The  Ferrer  Schools  of  Barcelona  had  been 
as  freely  permitted  to  work  disruption  in  Spain  as  the 
Ferrer  and  the  Rand  Schools  of  New  York  City  are 
still  permitted  to  train  men  and  women,  boys  and  girls, 
for  the  overthrow  of  American  principles  and  American 
institutions.  As  we  have  said  before,  not  a  few  of 
these  sometime  students  are  now  amongst  the  "  Dic- 
tators of  the  Proletariat  "  in  Russia.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  there  were  forty-two  Ferrer  schools  unrestrictedly 
working  their  wicked  will  in  Barcelona  at  the  time 
their  founder  inspired  the  mob  to  insurrection  in  that 
hopeless  city.  There  was,  at  this  time,  plenty,  and 
more  of  license  for  the  operation  of  these  modem 
schools  and  there  was  not  a  lack  of  honest  educational 
opportunities  in  this  province  of  Spain  as  we  shall  show 
upon  the  authority  of  Mr.  Andrew  Shipman,  whose 
reliability  is  above  question.     We  quote: 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  273 

"  The  statistics  of  Barcelona  for  the  year  1909  show  the  fol- 
lowing results :  public  schools,  860 ;  private  church  schools 
conducted  by  religious  communities,  268 ;  private  schools  con- 
ducted by  Catholic  laymen,  564 ;  Protestant  schools,  22 ;  Ferrer 
*  laic '  schools,  43.  This  does  very  well  for  the  city  and 
province  of  Barcelona,  containing  a  total  population  of  1,052,- 
977. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  schools  of  Spain  still  leave  75 
per  cent  of  the  people  illiterate.  Those  are  the  statistics 
of  1860  —  fifty  years  ago.  According  to  the  census  of  1900 
(before  Ferrer  ever  began  his  schools),  Spain  had  25,340  pub- 
lic schools,  with  1,617,314  pupils,  and  6,181  private  schools 
with  344,380  pupils,  making  a  total  of  31,521  schools  with  1,- 
961,694  pupils,  out  of  a  population  then  of  18,618,086  — 
somewheres  approaching  the  same  average  as  the  State  of 
New  York  at  that  date  had  in  her  public  schools.  And  this 
is  excluding  high  schools,  seminaries,  and  the  ten  universities. 
And  Spain  has  largely  increased  her  educational  facilities  in 
the  ten  years  since  1900." 

One  point  in  passing  should  be  noted,  namely  that 
all  children  in  the  Statistical  Census  of  illiteracy  in 
Spain  are  included,  while  our  own  Statistical  Reports 
exclude  children  below  the  age  of  ten  years. 

Third. —  Ferrer  was  convicted  of  treason.  That  he 
was  guilty  of  treason  there  is  Socialist  testimony  in 
amplitude.  Yes,  truly  they  have  reversed  the  moral 
code  given  by  God  to  man.  They  use  loyalty  for 
treason ;  glory  for  shame.  But  this  blind  use  of  words 
does  not  change  the  character  of  their  intentions. 
Treason  was  the  International  pronouncement  at  the 
Stuttgart  Congress.  The  order  was  given  in  explicit 
terms  — "  to   war  upon  war."     That  it  was  followed 


274  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

out  in  Barcelona  is  well  known  by  all  the  International- 
ists. The  WeeUy  People  (N.  Y.,  Oct.  23,  1909)  in 
an  editorial  ''The  Assassination  of  Ferrer"  rejoices 
in  the  Spaniards'  loyalty  to  the  revolutionary  cause. 
"  The  Anti-Militarist  Resolution  promulgated  by  the 
International  Socialist  Congress  became  the  rallying  cry 
of  all  honorable  and  enlightened  elements  in  Spain." 

In  his  annual  report  the  National  Secretary  of  the 
Socialist  party  (^S'.  P.  Official  Bulletin,  Jan.,  1910) 
commends  the  Socialists  of  Barcelona  —  they  acted  in 
accordance  with  the  recommendations  contained  in  the 
resolutions  adopted  by  the  International  Congress  at 
Stuttgart  covering  this  very  subject  — "  war." 

"  Better  insurrection  than  war!  "  became  their  slogan 
and  the  International  Socialist  Bureau  (Brussels) 
praised  the  Ferrerites  for  their  "  loyalty  "  in  a  stirring 
appeal  issued  to  the  Spanish  Socialists.  This  docu- 
ment was  published  in  all  the  Socialist  papers  of  our 
country.  Splendid!  The  Socialists  in  Spain  have 
risen  in  open  insurrection  against  war  in  Morocco :  : 

Socialists  Did  Duty 

"  During  this  shocking  state  of  affairs,  the  Socialists  have 
done  their  duty  to  the  end  without  flinching.  The  inter- 
national party  owes  them  a  debt  of  gratitude  and  sympathy. 
They  have  made  war  against  war  at  the  peril  of  their  lives. 
They  have  carried  out  the  resolution  of  our  congress  and  for 
that  reason  we  ourselves  must  support  them  in  their  acts. 
Let  us  proclaim  so  loudly  in  these  times  when  reaction, 
bearing  in  mind  the  history  of  the  Commune,  is  trying  by  its 
false  news  and  censure,  to  transform  victims  into  criminals 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  275 

and  criminals  into  victims.     (Chicago  Daily  Socialist,  Aug. 
18,  1909." 

The  last  clause  of  the  Stuttgart  resolution  was  in- 
troduced by  Rosa  Luxenburg,  delegate  from  Poland 
and  N.  Lenin,  delegate  from  Eussia.  It  was  re-enacted 
at  the  Basle  International  Congress.  Socialists  are 
pledged  — "  to  employ  all  their  forces  for  utilizing  the 
economical  and  political  crisis  created  hy  the  war,  in 
order  to  arouse  the  masses  of  the  people  and  to  hasten 
the  downbreak  of  the  predominance  of  the  capitalist 
class." 

Surely,  "  loyalty  "  to  this  mandate  had,  during  the 
war  with  Morocco,  prompted  the  Socialists  of  Spain  to 
use  all  their  forces  to  "  war  upon  war,"  and  the  results 
were  most  successful.  That  the  practise  of  treason  was 
spreading  to  other  countries  may  be  seen  in  the  fact 
that  just  at  the  beginning  of  the  world-war  (Sept., 
1914)  the  Social  Democratic  Party  of  Russia  sent  out 
an  official  document  signed  by  S.  Zimowjen  and  'N. 
Lenin  declaring  their  members  to  be  in  duty  bound  to 
war  upon  war.  "  The  Basle  Resolution,  which  repeats 
the  words  of  the  Stuttgart  Resolution,  means  that,  in 
case  of  an  outbreaJc  of  war,  all  Socialists  shall  he  obliged 
and  in  duty  bound  to  malce  use  of  the  economic  and 
political  crisis  brought  on  by  the  war  to  stir  up  the 
masses  and  bring  about  the  social  revolution." 

Thus  it  was  sentimentally  clear  to  their  perverted 
view  of  honor  that  Perrer  had  become  a  martyr  by 
taking  advantage  of  a  state  of  war  in  his  own  country 


276  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

to  stab  Spain  in  the  back.  Eerrer  had  been  "  loyal " 
to  the  Socialist  mandate.  But  this  mandate  is  treason 
to  any  just  government  in  the  world.  Suppose,  as  an 
instance,  that  during  the  time  our  troops  were  defend- 
ing the  honor  of  America  on  the  fields  of  France  and 
Flanders,  that  Morris  Hillquit,  Victor  L.  Berger,  Kate 
Richard  O'Hare,  Dan.  Hogan,  Frank  Midney,  Patrick 
Quinlan,  C.  E.  Ruthenberg,  Maynard  Shipley,  George 
Spiess,  Jr.,  Job  Harriman  and  Algernon  Lee  —  the  pro- 
posers of  the  St.  Louis  Emergency  Convention  resolu- 
tion on  war  —  aided  by  Emma  Goldman,  Alexander 
Berkman  with  their  anarchist  following  — "  to  hasten 
the  downbreak  of  the  capitalist  class  "  had  acted  upon 
the  aphorism  "  better  insurrection  than  war  "  and  car- 
ried out  their  program  of  "  mass  action,"  inducing  their 
poor  deluded  comrades  to  mount  the  barricades  and 
fight  like  tigers;  to  destroy  22  churches;  14  convents; 
20  schools  and  colleges ;  19  oflBce  buildings  and  private 
houses;  kill  102  persons;  seriously  wound  and  maim 
312  others;  to  enter  the  vaults  and  carry  off  32  dead 
bodies  of  nuns  through  the  streets  of  New  York ;  as 
did  the  Ferrerites  in  their  "  war  upon  war  "  in  the  City 
of  Barcelona,  what  then?  Would  that  city  if  under 
martial  law  have  given  a  pink  tea  to  the  instigators  of 
the  internecine  str.if e  ?  No,  surely  we  should  have  done 
in  America  what  was  done  in  a  much  less  serious  at- 
tempt at  the  "  downbreak  of  the  capitalist  class  "  in 
Chicago  in  1886.  This  miniature  attempt  at  the  revo- 
lution to  abolish  private  capital  and  the  wages  system 
by  throwing  bombs  into  Haymarket  Square  should  be 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  277 

fruitful  in  its  lesson.  The  death  toll  was  six  police- 
men and  about  sixty  persons  were  injured.  From  the 
court  records  it  may  be  seen  that  the  conviction  of 
the  "  Chicago  Martyrs  "  —  August  Spies,  Albert  Par- 
sons, Michael  Schwab,  Samuel  Fielden,  Adolph  Fisher, 
George  Engel  and  Louis  Lingg  was  not  for  throwing  the 
bombs,  it  was  for  doing  just  what  the  Ferrer-Eand  et 
al  schools  are  doing  throughout  the  country.  It  was 
not  this  actual  presence  at  Haymarke't  Square  during 
the  riot  that  brought  about  their  conviction  but  rather 
the  disloyal  and  treasonable  statements  found  in  their 
speeches  and  writings  that  sent  them  to  death.  The 
Court  of  Chicago  clearly  states  the  case  of  translating 
violent  principles  into  action: 

"He  who  inflames  people's  minds,  and  induces  them  by 
violent  means  to  accomplish  an  illegal  object,  is  himself  a 
rioter,  even  though  he  take  no  part  in  the  riot.  ...  If  he 
set  in  motion  the  physical  power  of  another,  he  is  liable  for 
its  result.  If  he  awake  into  action  an  indiscriminate  power, 
he  is  responsible." 

FEEEtEB  Schools 

Surely,  at  this  point  the  question  is  again  pertinent 
—  just  what  are  these  violent  principles  taught  at  the 
Ferrer  schools  in  so  popular  a  way  that  even  children 
become  easily  imbued  with  them.  They  are  in  sub- 
stance the  self-same  anti-religious,  anti-patriotic,  anti- 
family  doctrines  that  lie  as  the  immoral  and  inethical 
base  of  the  many  sided  movement  connoted  by  the  gen- 
eral  term   Socialism.     For   a   concrete   statement   we 


278  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

present  a  few  excerpts  from  the  Third  Reader  of  the 
Barcelona  Modern  Schools  —  a  Ferrer  text  book : 

"  Don't  get  excited  for  the  sake  of  the  flag !  It  is  nothing 
but  three  yards  of  cloth  stuck  on  a  pole." 

"  The  words  '  country,'  '  flag,'  and  '  family '  are  no  more 
than  hypocritical  echoes  of  wind  and  sound." 

"Industries  and  commerce  are  names  by  which  merchants 
cover  up  their  robberies." 

"  Marriage  is  prostitution  sanctified  by  the  Church  and 
protected  by  the  State." 

"  The  family  is  one  of  the  principal  obstacles  to  the  en- 
lightenment of  men." 

Surely,  words  are  lost  in  pity  for  God's  little 
ones. 

Their  leading  teacher  —  William  J.  Durant,  gives 
an  outline  in' The  Modern  School'"  (Vol.  1,  No.  1) 
of  the  Eerrer  schools.  Durant  out  Luther's  Luther. 
To  be  sure  Luther  discovered  the  Bible  accidentally, 
though  there  were  up  to  the  time  he  was  educated  five 
hundred  editions  of  it,  thirty  of  which  were  in  his  own 
language  —  German.  But  then  a  public  library  is 
much  bigger  than  a  Bible  and  "  the  turning  point  in 
Durant's  life  came  when  he  discovered  that  there  was 
such  a  thing  as  a  public  library/' 

Erom  Spencer's  "  Eirst  Principles,"  step  by  step  Du- 
rant walked  right  into  the  first  place  in  the  Eerrer 
schools  of  America.  His  pupils  study  "  Homo  Sexual- 
ism  "  and  "  Sex  and  Religion."  To  enforce  the  teach- 
ing of  the  school  —  since  the  difference  between  science 


BOLSHEVISM  11^  SCHOOLS  2Y9 

and  art  is  that  science  is  knowing  the  method  and  art 
is  to  do  the  deed  —  the  teaching  of  Ellen  Key  —  the 
Swedish  feminist  —  is  studied  and  she  herself  is  given 
to  the  girl  students  as  their  model  since  Ellen  Key  "  is 
the  most  consistent  of  women,  inasmuch  as  she  lives  her 
ideals  in  her  own  life." 

For  the  babies  the  Montessori  system  is  recommended, 
and  the  Ferrer  schools  are  far  and  away  ahead  of  any 
others  of  this  class  since  they  are  most  logically  anarchis- 
tic. 

Without  religious  light;  without  the  ground  of 
reason ;  without  the  norm  of  common  sense  these  teachers 
boast  that  they  teach  without  dogmatism,  then  they  set 
up  the  stupid  dogma  that  "  children  must  be  free  to 
educate  themselves."  Some  may  dance  when  others 
want  to  study,  for  their  spirits  should  not  be  repressed. 
Little  boys  may  fight  in  the  school  rooms  even  though 
the  side-walk  is  a  better  place  to  have  it  out  as  to 
which  one  shall  first  dance  with  Maria.  Perish  the 
thought  —  initiation  may  not  be  suppressed  at  the  risk 
of  limb  or  life,  any  boy  or  girl  could  jump  out  of  the 
window  if  he  or  she  decided  to  do  so.  IN'either  the 
child's  mind  nor  its  body  shall  be  cramped  —  the  school 
is  positively  libertarian. 

Of  course,  nothing  is  right  and  nothing  is  wrong, 
but  then  these  "  teachers "  discuss  what  is  right  and 
what  is  wrong  with  the  children  but  the  children  are 
never  forbidden  anything  and  they  are  never  punished 
in  any  way  for  anything. 


280  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

PUBJLIC    AND    PaECK}HIAI>    ScHOOLS 

Socialists  are  energetically  taking  advantage  of 
every  opportunity  to  control  the  education  of  children 
throughout  the  country  and  this  is  only  another  way  of 
saying  that  they  would  drive  out  of  every  school  cur- 
riculum whatsoever  induces  love  of  God  and  loyalty  to 
country.  They  base  their  opposition  on  the  assumption 
that  both  religion  and  patriotism  are  unscientific: 

"I  know  of  no  school  to  which  your  children  may  be  sent 
where  some  superstitions  are  not  taught.  In  the  public 
schools,  where  the  ordinary  superstitions  taught  in  sectarian 
schools  are  not  taught,  some  superstitions  the  child  must 
receive.  The  superstition  of  the  glory  of  war,  the  freedom 
of  our  land,  patriotism  narrowed  down  to  the  blind  love  of 
one  country  against  other  countries,  and  several  other  such 
superstitions.  The  only  place  I  know  of  for  your  children 
or  anybody's  children  where  these  and  other  superstitions 
are  unlearned  and  beautiful  truth  is  learned  is  in  the  So- 
cialist Sunday  schools."  (Rose  Pastor  Stokes  —  Editor 
Woman's  Dep.  New  York  Call,  Sept.  7,  1908.) 

N^ot  content  with  the  fact  that  the  popular  Darwinian 
theory  has  vitiated  the  text  books  of  the  modern  world 
to  the  extent  that  animalism  is  the  cult  profused  by  the 
so-called  educa?ted,  with  its  utter  disregard  for  the  soul, 
even  the  life  of  the  race,  as  may  be  seen  in  the  propa- 
ganda of  birth  control  and  its  kindred  abominations,  all 
of  which  reaches  down  to  the  schools  in  the  form  of 
sex  hygiene  et  al.,  the  Socialists  want  still  further  to 
carry  the  demoralization  of  animalism  into  the  every- 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  281 

day  life  of  school  children.  The  city  platform  of  Oak- 
land, Calif.,  Socialist  Party  (Jan.,  1919)  first  calls 
for  a  class-conscious  Soviet  government  and  then  calls 
for  this  practical  step  towards  their  aim :  "  We  de- 
mu7\d  a  complete  revolution  in  the  text  hooTcs  and  in- 
structions and  that  working  class  'principles  hecome  the 
new  order  of  education."  Thus  it  is  that  decent  words 
— "  working  class  " —  are  made  to  do  duty  in  describ- 
ing principles  that  are  vicious. 

The  Socialists  of  Queens  County,  N".  Y.,  declared: 

"  That  the  party ^  organization  go  down  on  record  as  favor- 
ing compulsory  public  school  education."  (Call,  April  24, 
1912.) 

The  New  York  State  Platform  —  adopted  hy  the 
Socialist  Party  in  Convention  assembled  in  Albany, 
July  2,  1916  —  declared  for  "Compulsory  school  at- 
tendance for  all  children  up  to  the  age  of  18." 

The  influence  of  religion  must  be  weakened,  is  the 
burden  of  the  official  pronouncement  of  the  Socialist 
Party  of  Great  Britian  under  the  caption  of  Socialism 
and  Religion: 

"  The  sophistication  df  the  children's  brains  with  super- 
stition and  hypocritical  capitalist  codes  prevents  millions  from 
ever  understanding  their  position  in  the  world." 

l^obody  is  better  qualified  than  Clara  Zetkin  —  a 
Spartacide  leader  in  Germany  —  to  send  the  cry  of  the 
doctrinaries  around  the  world: 


28^  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"Cast  religion  out  of  the  schools!  It  has  no  hiisiness 
there,  neither  from  ethic  nor  pedagogic  reasons." 

They  know,  from  long  experience,  that,  indeed,  ma- 
terialism is  the  handmaid  of  revolution.  They  know, 
too,  that  religion  out-of-the  public  schools  is  the  precur- 
sor for  closing  the  private  schools  where  religion  is 
taught.  This  point  is  well  established.  It  was  set 
down  succinctly  in  the  Erfurt  platform  (1891)  and  the 
Erfurt  platform  has  been  the  model  for  all  the  Socialist 
political  programs  since  that  time.  The  self -same  word- 
ing of  the  plank  has  been  used  in  the  platforms  of 
Socialists  in  our  own  country.  "^  Secularization  of  the 
schools.     Compulsory  attendance  at  the  public  schools." 

The  late  Wilhelm  Liebknecht,  one  of  the  most  in- 
fluential leaders  of  the  German  Social  Democratic  Party 
—  may  be  trusted  to  have  amplified  its  exact  intention 
in  his  Socialism:  What  It  Is  and  What  It  Seeks  to 
Accomplish.  This  passage  ''  means  that  the  church, 
that  religion  should  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  school." 
"  It  means  that  the  attempt  of  Catholics,  Protestants  and 
others  to  hold  and  malce  their  control  firm  over  the  in- 
tellect "  must  he  frustrated.  This  is  open.  Too  open, 
since  it  is  low  grade  politics  to  play  at  the  game 
of  now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don't.  When  the  discus- 
sion was  on,  it  was  objected  as  an  infringement  upon 
parental  rights  —  that  by  compelling  all  children  to 
attend  public  schools  where  religious  training  was  for- 
bidden —  it  was  in  fact  a  prohibition  upon  religious 
instruction. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  283 

The  Social  Democratic  Herald  (June  21,  1913)  — 
Victor  Berger's  paper  —  replied :  "  But  compulsory 
schooling  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  right  of  the  people 
to  be  religious  or  to  inculcate  their  religion."  True,  the 
right  no  man  —  no  state  —  can  take  away  since  no  man 
gave  it.  The  right  is  secure  with  God,  but  it  is  not  safe 
with  Darwinism  in  the  saddle ;  with  Socialists  in  power 
it  would  be  quite  impossible  for  parents  to  exercise 
their  natural  right  to  educate  their  children  in  compli- 
ance with  the  dictates  of  their  conscience.  For  witness 
we  call  upon  the  Lenin-Trotsky  regime  to  testify. 
Surely  no  discussion  is  necessary  to  the  same  conclusion 
that  in  our  mixed  population  of  various  religious  beliefs, 
with  sixty  millions  of  our  people  non-affiliated  with  any 
church,  that  the  teaching  of  religion  in  our  public 
schools,  as  now  maintained,  is  quite  impossible  if  the 
right  of  religious  conviction  is  to  be  respected.  Yet, 
because  the  general  public  has  stupidly  and  wickedly 
acquiesced  in  the  notion  that  those  who  demand  Godless 
education  for  children  shall  have  it  all  their  own  way 
with  the  public  schools,  we  have  now  to  face  the  growing 
demand  that  no  parents  shall  be  allowed  to  educate  their 
children  under  religious  auspices  even  in  private  schools. 
A  pretty  kettle  of  fish !  We  must,  of  course,  assent  that 
such  irresponsible  parents  as  will  not  safeguard  the  in- 
telligence of  our  future  citizenry  by  their  voluntary 
education  shall  be  made  to  do  so.  Besides,  all  will  no 
doubt  agree  that  cooperation  through  State  agencies  in 
the  education  of  children  is  advisable  for  too  many 
reasons  here  to  enumerate.     But  there  should  be  mother- 


284  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

wit  enough  within  the  hody  politic  to  safeguard  uni- 
versal education  in  the  interest  of  the  State.  Just 
here  is  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter  and  the  sound  con- 
clusion must  be  that  since  moral  education  is  the 
necessary  base  of  citizenship  and  since  religious  in- 
struction alone  supplies  the  foundation  of  moral-char- 
acter the  Commonwealth  itself  should  safeguard  the 
basal  right  of  parents  to  educate  their  children  under 
religious  auspices  for  its  own  protection.  Hence  the 
complementary  conclusion  is  that  Godless  schools  should 
be  limited  strictly  to  those  hapless  little  ones  whose 
infidel  and  atheist  parents  demand  such  a  crippling  of 
the  school  curriculum. 

The  issue  is  coming  on  apace  and  the  Commonwealth 
must  meet  it.  Shall  natural  rights  be  maintained  upon 
the  field  of  education  or  shall  those  who  deny  natural 
rights  rule  our  schools? 

The  Socialist  mind  may  be  seen  in  a  text  book  written 
by  John  Spargo,  for  it  is  officially  circulated  by  the 
Socialist  party.  Its  sense  is  that  the  Socialist  regime 
would  forbid  the  existence  of  private  schools  —  of  re- 
ligious schools  —  and  that  this  one-class  society  would 
take  over  the  role  of  "  the  natural  protector  of  the 
child." 

"  Whether  the  socialist  regime  could  tolerate  the  existence 
of  elementary  schools  other  than  its  own,  such  as  privately 
conducted  kindergartens  and  schools,  religious  schools,  and  so 
on,  is  questionable.  Probably  not.  It  would  probably  not 
content  itself  with  refusing  to  permit  religious  doctrines  or 
ideas  to  be  taught  in  its  schools,  but  would  go  further,  and. 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  285 

as  the  natural  protector  of  the  child,  guard  its  independence 
of  thought  in  later  life  as  far  as  possible  by  forbidding  re- 
ligious teaching  of  any  kind  in  schools  for  children  up  to  a 
certain  age.  Beyond  that  age,  religious  education,  in  all 
other  than  the  public  schools,  would  be  freely  permitted. 
This  restriction  of  religious  education  to  the  years  of  judg- 
ment and  discretion  implies  no  hostility  to  religion  on  the 
part  of  the  State,  but  neutrality.  Not  the  least  important  of 
the  rights  of  the  child  is  the  right  to  be  protected  from  in- 
fluences which  bias  the  mind  and  destroy  the  possibilities  of 
independent  judgment  in  later  life,  or  make  it  attainable  only 
as  a  result  of  bitter,  needless,  tragic  experience."  ("  Social- 
ism: A  Summary  and  Interpretation  of  Its  Principles.") 

This  is  indeed  an  excellent  laboratory  specimen  of 
the  crookedness  in  thought  and  expression  that  is  com- 
mon to  those  who  speak  and  write  in  the  defense  of 
their  cause.  Of  course,  the  fault  here  lies  deeper  than 
thought  and  speech,  since  its  fundamental  lack  is  a 
moral  vision.     Having  denied  God  —  the  First  Cause 

—  the  source  from  which  moral  principles  are  come,  the 
parents  are  coolly  raped  of  their  natural  rights  in  their 
children.     Then  the  moral  fruit  of  parental  obligations 

—  instructing  their  children  to  know  God,  to  love  God, 
and  to  serve  Him  —  is  made  to  be  an  immoral  obliga- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Commonwealth,  since  its  im- 
portant part  is  to  prevent  religious  instruction  to  chil- 
dren. Out  of  despoliation,  despotism  and  bigotry  the 
Spargonian  twist  of  mind  makes  that  blameless  and 
at  times  most  desirable  product  —  civil  neutrality.  We 
are  tempted  to  echo  "  Can  you  heat  it?  " 

In  studying  the  educational  prospects  under  the  red 


286  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

regime  we  should  hold  in  mind  that  it  is  to  be  established 
upon  the  will  of  men,  whereas  our  form  of  government 
has  its  sure  foundation  upon  the  will  of  Almighty  God. 
To  the  question  relative  to  the  control  of  children  by 
their  parents  in  the  Socialist  republic  Erank  M.  East- 
wood replies  in  his  "  Question  Box  " : 

"  Nohody  hnows.  A  few  Socialist  writers  seem  to  think 
that  children  would  he  the  wards  of  the  state,  hut  a  greater 
numher  are  opposed  to  it.  Just  what  will  he  is  a  matter  that 
the  people  of  that  time  rmist  decide." 

Again : 

"  Would  parochial  schools  be  allowed  in  the  Cooperative 
Commonwealth  ? 

"  It  is  not  for  an  individual  of  to-day  to  say  just  what 
would  be  allowed  in  a  society  that  is  not  yet  organized,  but 
there  is  nothing  in  the  principles  of  Socialism  that  conflicts 
with  the  idea  of  parochial  schools  or  any  other  schools  con- 
ducted for  the  purpose  of  teaching  special  branches  such  ag 
would  not  likely  be  taught  in  a  public  school.  All  such 
things  as  this  would,  however,  depend  upon  the  will  of  the 
majority,  which  would  rule  under  Socialism  in  fact  as  it 
now  does  in  theory." 

Nowhere  in  Socialist  philosophy  is  there  any  warrant 
for  the  conviction  that  the  majority,  or  the  minority 
for  that  matter,  is  under  an  obligation  imposed  by  the 
moral  law  —  God's  law  to  rule  according  to  the  natural 
rights  of  beings  human.  ISTor  should  this  cause  sur- 
prise. Going  no  further  back  than  the  animal  life 
exhibited  within  the  created  universe  for  the  source  of 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  287 

authority,  it  necessarily  rests  upon  physical  force  — 
upon  might.  Thus  it  is  that  right  as  an  absolute  prin- 
ciple and  wrong  as  a  denial  and  departure  from  what 
is  right  is  quite  beyond  and  above  the  comprehension 
of  these  modern,  scientific,  class  conscious,  revolution- 
izers  of  the  world.  The  "  right  of  might "  has  been 
set  up  in  Russia,  the  Commissioner  of  Education,  A.  V. 
Lunacharsky,  in  his  report  of  the  All-Russian  Teachers 
Congress  disposes  of  all  doubts  on  the  matter  as  to  in- 
tention : 

"  At  the  session  of  the  Government  Commission  for  Public 
Education,  in  connection  with  a  petition  of  the  church  meet- 
ing, the  question  of  parochial  schools  was  taken  up.  The 
Government  Commission  decided  that  the  educational  in- 
stitutions of  the  church  shall  pass  over  to  the  administration 
of  the  local  Soviets  for  public  education.  Private  initiative 
may  be  permitted  to  found  courses  for  religious  instruction, 
but  these  shall  have  no  right  to  include  in  their  programs 
general  educational  subjects." 

Moreover  the  deed  is  done !  —  Even  before  the  five 
senses  of  the  child  have  coordinated  in  mental  vision 
at  the  age  of  about  seven  years,  these  absurdly  dogmatic 
folk  who  deny  dogma  —  and  dogma  is  only  a  terse  state- 
ment of  a  basic  principle,  that  relates  the  individual 
to  his  Creator  —  deny  that  the  parent  has  an  inalienable 
right  to  the  child  and  insist  upon  "  its  right  to  doubt,  to 
investigate,  to  grow  strong  in  wisdom  by  the  exercise  of 
its  mental  processes."  Louise  Bryant  —  an  American 
Bolshevist   apologist  —  gives  her  testimony    "  In    Six 


288  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Months  in  Russia "  that  the  one-class  Godless  school 
is  the  one  only  school  permitted : 

"Every  child  in  Russia  now  attends  public  school.  All 
private  institutions  are  abolished.  Not  only  the  children  in 
prison,  in  reform  schools  and  in  orphan  asylums  now  must 
go  to  public  schools,  but  also  the  children  of  the  aristocracy 
must  attend  these  same  schools." 

Only  a  little  knowledge  of  the  world's  human  his- 
tory is  sufficient  to  see  that  there  is  nothing  new  under 
the  sun.  The  usurpation  of  the  natural  rights  of 
parents  was  well  worked  out  with  the  code  of  Lycurgus 
and  put  into  every-day  educational  processes  of  the 
children  of  Sparta  during  the  regime  of  his  one-class  so- 
ciety in  pre-Christian  days.  Of  course  it  did  not  last 
long,  even  with  the  Pagans,  since  a  merciful  Providence 
has  a  way  of  righting  the  wrongs  of  the  race  when  men 
set  up  their  dogmatic  wills  quite  to  the  contrary  of  God's 
will. 

However,  Pagans  of  our  day  are  now  masters  of  the 
masses  and  the  classes.  To  be  sure  Lenin  and  Trotsky 
did  not  wait  for  a  plebiscite  relative  to  the  inclusion  or 
the  exclusion  of  religious  instruction  in  schools.  ISTo, 
usurping  the  power  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
rights  of  civil  society  and  the  authority  of  parents, 
forthwith,  at  the  point  of  the  machine-gun,  they  con- 
fiscated institutions  of  learning,  denied  the  natural 
rights  of  children  and  sent  them  all  to  their  schools 
where  no  "  superstitions  "  are  taught ;  where  God  is  a 
myth,  patriotism  is  a  farce,  workmen  have  no  country, 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  289 

the  flag  a  rag  fetish,  self-expression  the  law,  and  self- 
sacrifice  that  blunder  worse  than  a  crime.  From  now 
on  Bolshevism  will  undertake  the  task  of  showing  that 
"  the  power  of  the  Vatican,  the  Pope,  rests  upon  the 
ignorance  of  the  masses,"  that  the  influence  of  the 
Church  shall  "  disappear,"  that  education  under  Cath- 
olic control  is  what  Karl  Marx  said  it  was  when  writing 
in  laudation  of  the  Paris  insurrection  of  1871  —  intel- 
lectual "  stultification  by  the  priest." 

From  the  evidence  submitted  it  should  be  deemed 
no  threat  but  a  rather  mild  caution  to  say  that  we  had 
better  make  haste  to  encourage  religious  instruction  in 
the  schools,  upon  an  equitable  basis,  unless  our  country 
is  ready  to  accept  Debs,  Berger,  Stokes,  Spargo  et  al  as 
the  "  natural  protectors  "  of  American  children. 

At  any  rate  Catholics  are  not  guilty !  They  have  not, 
they  are  not  and  they  will  not  teach  their  children  that 
Darwinian  doctrine,  brought  to  its  perfection  and  to  its 
Waterloo  in  the  world-war,  that  might  is  supreme  over 
spirit.  Though  all  the  other  institutions,  that  should  be 
seats  of  truth  not  of  error,  should  teach  "  psychology 
without  a  soul "  the  Catholic  philosophers  know  that 
it  is  a  first  principle  of  recognition  that  the  identity  of 
a  thing  —  a  being  —  is  established  by  contrast,  rela- 
tive and  ultimate.  That  if  all  there  were  to  deal  with 
were  phenomena,  it  could  not  be  known  for  lack  of  an 
ultimate  contrast,  there  would  be  nothing  to  stand  in 
contrast  to  the  created  cosmos  by  which  to  establish 
that  which  we  know  as  force  and  matter.  But  with  God- 
Pure  Spirit,  Light  and  Life  —  as  Creator,  then  phenom- 


290  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

ena  may  be  sure  and  known  up  to  one's  attained  capa- 
city to  conceive  of  material  substances  in  part  and  the 
physical  universe  as  one  whole.  Then  too,  in  this  ulti- 
mate contrast  there  is  a  First  Cause  —  a  Perfect  Cause 
—  alone  sufficient  to  account  for  the  moral  conscious- 
ness of  man  and  for  his  creative  art-principle. 

Speaking  in  the  large,  the  world  may  be  sure  that 
three  hundred  million  Catholics  throughout  the  world 
will  maintain  their  God-given  right  to  obey  \h.e  mandate 
of  the  Canon  Law  of  their  Church : 

"Parents  are  hound  hy  the  most  serious  obligation  to  pro- 
cure as  far  as  possible  the  religious,  moral,  physical,  and 
civil  education  of  their  children,  and  to  provide  also  for  their 
temporal  welfare." 

Any  correct  history  relative  to  the  subject  will  show 
that  to  the  Catholic  Church  is  due  the  credit  for  intro- 
ducing the  free  public  school  system.  Centuries  before 
Guttenburg  invented  the  printing  press  (1438),  long 
before  material  less  expensive  than  vellum  was  common 
in  book-making  free  schools  were  attached  to  Catholic 
Churches.  So  far  back  as  the  second  century  of  the 
Christian  era  (180  a.  d.)  academies  were  maintained 
to  teach  divine  revelation  and  Christian  experience. 
Hence  dogma  and  experience  were  in  polarity,  there- 
fore these  ancient  Christians  knew  both  the  deductive 
and  the  inductive  principles  involved  in  education, 
whether  or  not  these  terms  were  used.  So  it  was  that 
absolute  principles,  objective  reality  and  sound  philoso- 
phy formed  the  three  dimensions  of  education ;  - —  in 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  291 

contrast  then,  as  now,  to  the  Pagan  notion  that  pragma- 
tism will  suffice  as  a  foundation  of  truth. 

In  529  Ai.  D.  the  Council  of  Vaison  commanded  the 
priests  of  Gaul  to  take  boys  into  their  households  and 
instruct  them  in  their  faith,  science  and  art.  It  is  con- 
cluded by  reputable  historians  that  this  decree  was  in 
fact  the  beginning  of  the  parochial  school  system. 

Lhiring  the  eighth  century  the  Bishop  of  Metz  first 
established  schools  in  Cathedral  cities  and  then  expanded 
the  system  to  include  nearly  all  those  places  where  there 
were  Churches.  Besides  religious  instruction,  reading, 
writing,  grammar,  rhetoric,  psalmody  and  dialectics 
were  taught. 

There  is  no  doubt  about  the  edict  for  free  education 
more  than  seven  hundred  years  ago.  The  third  Lateran 
Council  (1179  a*  d.)  issued  a  decree  that  shows  educa- 
tion to  be  a  supreme  care  of  the  Chief  Pastor  and  more- 
over it  shows  that  democracy  —  the  rights  of  the  poor 

—  is  ever  in  balanced  proportion  to  the  authority  vested 
in  Ecclesiastics.  We  quote :  "  That  every  Cathedral 
Church  have  a  teacher  who  is  to  teach  poor  scholars  and 
others,  and  that  no  one  receive  a  fee  for  permission  to 
teach." 

In  "  The  Fairest  Argument,"  Rev.  John  Noll,  LL.D. 

—  Editor  of  Our  Sunday  Visitor  —  devotes  many 
pages  to  showing  the  marvelous  educational  work  done 
by  the  Church  throughout  the  centuries.  Much  of  the 
testimony  is  taken  from  non-Catholic  friends,  who,  as 
historians,  are  in  admiration  of  the  efforts  of  Holy 
Mother  Church  to  enlighten  the  people. 


292  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Ireland  liad  seven  Universities  in  the  sixth  century, 
Germany  had  40,000  elementary  schools  before  Luther 
w^as  born,  he,  himself,  was  educated  in  one  of  them. 

Florence  with  90,000  population  had  an  attendance 
of  12,000  in  the  Catholic  schools  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. 

Before  the  "  Reformation  "  Catholics  had  established 
seventy  of  the  leading  universities  of  Europe,  they  have 
added  forty-six  since  that  time,  which  makes  a  present 
total  of  one  hundred  sixteen.  Taken  together  the 
Protestant  sects  have  established  but  thirty-one  univer- 
sities since  the  religious  authority  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ 
was  thrown  off  in  Germany  and  in  England. 

On  the  American  continent  the  University  of  Peru 
was  first  to  be  founded  at  Lima,  1551.  Of  course  it  was 
Catholic.  It  had  flourished  nearly  half  a  century  be- 
fore the  Pilgrims  landed  on  Plymouth  Rock. 

Our  own  record  is  like  to  that  of  all  the  Christian 
centuries,  everywhere,  the  first  public  school  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  United  States  was  founded  by  the 
Catholics  at  St.  Augustine,  Fla.,  in  the  yedr  1600. 
Thus  the  Church  has  a  clear  title  as  pioneer  upon  the 
field  of  universal  education  —  secular  and  religious,  for 
there  is  more  than  ample  proof  that  from  the  year  33 
when  Christ  selected  Peter  as  His  Vicar  on  earth  that 
the  command  to  teach  all  nations  has  been  faithfully 
carried  out. 

Having  studied  the  uprise  and  the  dovTufall  of  em- 
pires and  of  republics  our  own  Washington  saw  clearly 
that  without  religious  instruction  morality  cannot  be 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  293 

maintained  and  conversely  without  morality  no  nation 
can  be  maintained.  This  conviction  was  clearly  stated  in 
the  quaint  language  of  the  day  and  a  wise  warning  given 
to  the  future  generations  by  the  Father  of  our  Country 
in  his  farewell  address  which  we  should  prize  as  a  rich 
jewel  in  our  national  legacy : 

"  Let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition  that  morality 
can  be  maintained  without  religion;  whatever  may  be  con- 
ceded to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds  of  pe- 
culiar structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid  us  to  ex- 
pect that  national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  re- 
ligious principles." 

Catholics  have  not  to  plead  guilty :  for  religious  prin- 
ciples have  never  been  excluded  from  their  homes  nor 
from  their  schools.  They  hear  and  they  obey  the  in- 
struction that  God  has  given  and  they  know  that  "  Jus- 
tice exalteth  a  nation;  hut  sin  maheth  nations  miser^ 
able"  (Proverbs  14,  34).  Without  God  as  the  author 
of  nations  justice  were  a  principle  unknown  and  un- 
knowable. With  God  as  the  ultimate  cause  of  every 
nation  under  the  sun,  with  Christ  the  Messiah  and  Re- 
deemer of  all  mankind,  the  central  figure  of  history  we 
have  a  rational  explanation  of  human  society  that  sat- 
isfies the  normal  requirements  of  human  judgment  and 
conduct.  It  is  true  that  without  supernatural  revela- 
tion the  human  mind  is  enabled,  by  its  natural  gifts,  to 
reach  the  necessity  for  a  First  Cause.  But  this  convic- 
tion leaves  all  rational  processes  minus  the  explanation 
of  goodness  and  of  sin  in  the  world.     The  utmost  the 


294  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

First  Cause  will  yield  is  the  positive  and  the  negative 
action  of  the  human  will  —  that  is  free-will  to  do  or 
not  to  do  a  specific  thing.  If,  however,  plus  the  Eirst 
Cause  there  is  supernatural  revelation  with  regard  to 
the  creation  of  man  and  the  fall  of  our  first  parents ;  also 
plus  the  historic  testimony  of  Christ  and  Him  Crucified, 
then  the  normal  mind  rests  securely  upon  its  compound 
of  natural  and  supernatural  revelation.  By  reason  and 
experience  things  natural-scientific  are  made  known  to 
us,  by  supernatural  revelation  things  —  spiritual  —  be- 
yond our  reason  and  experience  are  made  known  to  us. 
Therefore  it  is  plain  that  things  spiritual  are  wedded 
to  things  physical  as  closely  as  body  and  soul  are  wedded 
together.  That  they  are  not  to  be  separated  save  by 
a  destruction  of  mortal  life  in  the  one  case  and  by  the 
death  of  the  soul  in  sin  in  the  other  is  self-evident.  This 
is  the  reason  that  Catholics  insist  upon  secular  instruc- 
tion under  religious  auspices  and  quite  sufficient  it  is. 
It  is  surely  within  bounds  to  say  that  a  demonstra- 
tion of  self-sacrifice  quite  equal  to  the  highest  quality 
of  patriotism  this  side  of  death  is  witnessed  in  the  pa- 
rochial school  system  of  our  country.  Merely  to  note 
that  the  instruction  given  by  Christian  brothers  and  nuns 
—  the  many  thousands  of  men  and  women  who  leave 
the  world  and  its  allurements  to  give  a  life  service  for 
the  love  of  God  —  is  reasonably  superior  to  that  given 
as  a  commercial  transaction,  we  call  attention  to  the 
contributions  of  Catholics  in  dollars  and  cents  for  the 
support  of  their  school.  The  sum  runs  into  millions  an- 
nually.    Besides  the  full  support  of  their  own  schools 


BOLSHEVISM  IN  SCHOOLS  295 

Catholics  suffer  patiently  the  injustice  of  paying  their 
pro  rata  tax  to  support  the  public  schools. 

In  1918  there  were  1,593,406  children  attending 
5,748  Catholic  parish  schools.  In  the  Report  of  the 
U.  S.  Census  of  Education  (Table  16,  Vol.  2,  p.  18, 
1912)  it  is  estimated  that  in  1910-1911  the  annual  cost 
per  capita  in  the  average  common  school  was  $34.71  per 
pupil.  At  this  rate  —  though  as  a  matter  of  fact  the 
cost  since  then  has  greatly  increased  —  the  annual  sav- 
ing to  the  several  states  v^ould  be  $55,317,150.91. 
Moreover  it  has  been  thought  a  conservative  estimate 
that  in  1911  it  would  have  cost  over  $100,000,000  to 
erect  and  equip  school  buildings  to  accommodate  those 
Catholic  children  educated  in  parochial  schools. 

Just  now  —  at  the  conclusion  of  the  world  war  — 
when  the  patriotism  of  Catholics  of  every  tongue  spoken 
in  our  country  has  been  shown  in  supreme  devotion  to 
American  ideals  —  there  should  be  a  general  recogni- 
tion of  the  civic  value  of  education  under  Catholic  aus- 
pices, since  those  who  have  been  taught  to  render  unto 
God  what  belongs  to  God  give  freely  what  they  owe  to 
Caesar  —  their  life,  blood,  service  and  money. 


VII 

BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF 

VERY  many  attempts  have  been  made  to  put  into 
practical  operation  Socialist  ideals  by  the  estab- 
lishment of  cooperative  colonies,  but  incapacity,  jeal- 
ousy, dishonesty  and  immorality  have  disrupted  nearly 
every  one  of  them.  In  1871  an  attempt  was  made,  on  a 
larger  scale,  to  socialize  a  civil  community  —  Paris  — 
by  the  capture  of  the  seat  of  the  French  government. 
After  having  added  some  fresh  pages  of  horror  to  his- 
toric record  these  insurrectionists  were  forced  to  capitu- 
late. But  this  defect  did  not  halt  the  propaganda  of 
the  followers  of  Marx  and  Engels,  who  some  seventy 
years  ago  determined  upon  a  world  conquest.  But  re- 
cently came  the  opportunity  to  attempt  a  Paris  Com- 
mune on  a  national  scale.  In  the  once  despotic  land  of 
the  Czars  has  come  not  what  the  dream  so  fondly  dreamt 
of  happy  cooperation  but  instead  its  real  self,  that  like 
an  obsession  has  driven  men's  minds  from  truth  as 
Hagar  was  driven  into  the  wilderness,  there  to  perish. 
One  may  as  well  attempt  to  separate  the  fame  of  Marx 
and  Engels  from  their  doctrine  as  to  separate  Socialism 
and  Bolshevism. 

If  only  shoemakers  would  stick  to  their  last!     The 
National  Security  League  informs  the  public  that  its 

296 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  297 

"  efforts  will  not  be  directed  against  socialism "  but 
rather  against  the  doctrine  of  Lenin  and  Bolshevism, 
thus  their  program  is  to  separate  what  is  in  the  nature 
of  things  inseparable.  The  Liberator  (Feb.,  1919), 
better  educated  in  its  own  evolutionary  philosophy  than 
is  the  National  Security  League,  sharply  taking  issue 
replies :  "  the  doctrines  of  Lenin  are  the  doctrines  of 
revolutionary  Socialism  the  world  over."  When  ex- 
perts agree,  what  novice  shall  have  the  temerity  to  say 
that  they  know  not  their  own  testimony? 

"  Lenin  is  after  all  nothing  but  an  ordinary  Socialist,  with 
the  ordinary  Socialist  program  of  social  revolution  every- 
where throughout  Europe  as  his  object."  (Editorial  N.  Y. 
Call,  May  14,  1917.) 

"I  think  it  would  be  ridiculous  to  suppose  there  was  no 
German  money  in  the  Bolshevist  movement  —  but  —  Re- 
member, Trotsky  and  Lenin  are  preaching  to-day  the  doc- 
trine they  were  preaching  fifteen  years  ago."  (Bessie  Beatty, 
"  Red  Heart  of  Russia,"  p.  133.) 

Lincoln  Steffens,  who  is  keenly  aware  of  the  diver- 
gence in  thought  and  method  between  socialist  propa- 
ganda and  its  anarchist  counterpart,  gives,  in  his  in- 
troduction to  Trotsky's  book  — "  The  Bolsheviki  and 
World  Peace,"  K  Y.,  1918  — to  the  author  a  clear  cut 
title :  "  Leon  Trotsky  is  a  Socialist;  an  orthodox  Marx- 
ian Socialist." 

Evidently  it  requires  more  study  and  reflection  to  get 
the  logical  sequence  between  those  socialists  who  vio- 
lated the  espionage  act  during  the  war  and  those  who 
by  wielding  the  power  of  the  Red  Guard  defy  right  and 


298  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

justice  in  Russia,  than  some  of  our  Federal  Judges 
have  taken  the  trouble  to  give.  When  addressing  the 
Federal  Court  at  Cleveland  recently,  the  Judge  ex- 
pressed amazement  at  "  the  remarkable  self-delusion 
and  self-deception  of  Mr.  Debs,  who  assumes  that  he  is 
serving  humanity  and  the  downtrodden."  This  is  in- 
deed a  sympathetic  and  comprehensive  view  of  that 
full-fledged  fanaticism,  that  fanaticism  that  obsesses 
not  a  few  of  those  who  did  what  they  could  to  promote 
treason  after  our  government  declared  the  United  States 
to  be  in  a  state  of  war,  and  Mr.  Debs  is  assuredly  one 
of  those  who  were  not  mentally  sobered  by  the  tragedy  of 
the  times.  However,  the  self-delusion  and  self-decep- 
tion of  Mr.  Debs  passes  over  into  fanaticism  at  a  much 
higher  tension  than  that  which  statesmanship  gives  the 
unwarranted  occasion  for.  Mr.  Debs  fancies  himself 
not  merely  a  righter  of  wide-spreading  economic  wrongs 
in  America,  but  rather  a  savior  of  the  world.  He  blas- 
phemously conceives  his  mission  to  be  in  evolutionary 
complement  to  that  of  our  Blessed  Lord's  —  the  latest 
in  the  direct  and  mechanical  development  of  time  — 
from  Moses  to  Jesus,  to  Marx,  to  Debs.  He  views  him- 
self as  above  and  beyond  the  law ;  as  the  maker  of  a  new 
order.  Confidently,  Debs  declared  his  position  — "  I 
despise  the  law."  And  then  he  calls  upon  his  followers 
for  ''  mass  action  "  by  which  the  new  society  shall  come 
into  its  own  here  as  it  has  done  in  Russia.  Socialism 
in  Russia  —  save  to  those  who  "  see  red  " —  gives  just 
a  little  glimpse  of  the  disorders  of  hell.  Our  Lord  and 
Savior  Jesus  Christ  came  and  gave  to  Peter  the  keys 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  299 

that  he  might  open  the  door  of  Heaven  to  those  who 
wash  away  their  sins  in  the  Blood  of  the  Lamb.  Not 
time  nor  men  change  the  law,  neither  does  the  unrepen- 
tant sinner  break  through  the  happiness  here  or  heaven 
hereafter. 

But  the  Judge  mistakes  the  issue,  if  not  the  man,  with 
which  he  is  dealing,  when,  to  the  prisoner  before  the 
bar,  His  Honor  says  the  principles  you  enunciate  are 
"  anarchy  pure  and  simple  and  not  in  conformity  with 
any  of  the  works  on  Socialism  that  I  have  read."  Un- 
fortunately, we  must  conclude  that  the  Court  has  but  a 
very  slight  acquaintance  with  the  written  or  the  spoken 
word  that  has  long  since  been  digging  at  the  foundation 
principles  of  American  institutions,  at  sane  government 
everywhere.  Aye!  at  the  very  foundation  of  civil  so- 
ciety since  the  Ten  Commandments  are  accredited  with 
no  more  power  than  a  syllabus.  Even  a  little  attention 
to  the  matter  that  floats  down  the  stream  of  popular  dis- 
content should  have  informed  the  Court  that  the  four 
times  presidential  candidate  has  not  renounced  his  al- 
legiance to  his  Socialist  doctrine  and  that  Debs  is  not 
in  self-contradiction  when  he  declares: 

"  From  the  crown  of  my  head  to  the  soles  of  my  feet 
I  am  Bolshevist  and  proud  of  it." 

It  bodes  ill  for  the  clarity  of  public  opinion  that 
such  organizations  as  the  ISTational  Security  League  at- 
tempt the  impossible  task  of  fighting  Bolshevism  and 
excusing  Socialism.  The  foremost  leaders  of  the  two 
Socialist  parties  of  our  country  know  very  well  that 
this  latest  designation  of  the  movement  is  in  reality  but 


300  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

a  nick-name,  and  the  rank  and  file  of  the  entire  member- 
ship are  in  no  doubt  about  the  correctness  of  using 
Socialism  and  Bolshevism  interchangeably.  In  the 
opening  paragraph  of  The  Proclamation  On  Russia 
(Bolshevist  Eussia)  adopted  by  the  Socialist  Party 
(Aug.  11,  1918)  the  world  progress  of  their  movement 
is  clearly  stated: 

"Since  the  French  Revolution  —  there  has  been  no  other 
advance  in  democratic  progress  and  social  justice  comparable 
to  the  Russian  Revolution  —  the  Russian  people  have  estab- 
lished an  advanced  form  of  democracy  —  a  Socialist  Govern- 
ment —  Economically,  and  socially,  as  well  as  politically,  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Republic  is  a  govern- 
ment of  the  workers,  by  the  workers,  and  for  the  workers." — 
"  The  Socialist  Party  of  America  declares  itself  in  accord 
with  Revolutionary  Russia  and  urges  our  government  and 
our  people  to  cooperate  with  it  — ." 

The  Socialist  Labor  Party  likewise  officially  declares 
its  unity  with  Bolshevism.  The  Editor  of  the  Weekly 
People,  Olive  M.  Johnson,  says: 

"  We  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the  Bolsheviki  (Nov.  7, 
1918)  not  as  an  honor  from  another  nation  but  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  International  proletariat." 

A  special  magazine  One  Year  of  Revolution  (N". 
Y.,  Nov.  7,  1918)  was  issued  to  do  honor  to  the  Eus- 
sian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Eepublic  on  its  first  an- 
niversary. 

Louis  C.  Eraina,  one  of  the  leading  propagandists  of 
Bolshevism  in  America,  pays  tribute  to  the  doctrine  and 
to  a  leader : 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  301 

"Lenin  —  An  Appreciation 

"  Marx  was  the  master  of  the  Revolution  in  theory.  Lenin 
is  the  master  of  the  Revolution  in  action.  But  as  Marx 
the  man  of  theory,  had  great  capacity  for  action,  so  Lenin, 
the  man  of  action,  has  great  capacity  for  theory. 

"  Marxism  is  the  theoretical  instrument  of  the  proletarian 
revolution ;  it  is  upon  the  basis  of  Marxism  that  Lenin  builds. 
And  the  great  achievement  of  Lenin  is  the  restoration  of 
Marxism  to  its  real  character  as  an  instrument  of  revolu- 
tionary action." 

Of  Trotsky  the  editor  of  the  N.  Y.  Volkeszeitung, 
Ludwig  Lore,  gives  testimony,  while  he  was  in  New 
York  (1916-1917):  "Every  one  of  his  speeches  he- 
came  a  discttssion  of  scientific  Socialism^  a  profession 
of  faith  in  the  theories  of  Marx." 

One  piece  of  testimony  taken  from  across  our  north- 
ern border  shall  suffice  to  show  that  Canadian  Socialists 
gladly  acknowledge  that  the  Bolsheviki  are  nearer  their 
goal  than  they  themselves  are.  We  quote  from  Gordon 
Nelson,  Editor,  Labor  News  (Hamilton,  Ont.)  (N.  E. 
Leader,  Jan.  18,  1919)  : 

"  The  only  difference  between  the  mass  of  the  Bolsheviki 
and  the  mass  of  the  people  elsewhere  is  that  the  Bolsheviki 
are  class-conscious,  intelligent  students  of  conditions  as  they 
exist  to-day  and  as  they  will  exist  under  a  cooperative  com- 
monwealth. .  .  .  The  Bolsheviki  are  the  architects  of  the  so- 
cial order,  the  seers  and  heralds  of  the  new  age.  Bolshevism 
is  the  instrument  of  the  workers  for  abolishing  the  old  order 
and  establishing  the  new." 

Surely  we  have  given  testimony  sufficient  to  satisfy 
the  candid  mind  that  Socialism  is  Bolshevism  —  that 


302  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Bolshevism  is  tHe  incomplete  practise  of  the  Commun- 
ist Manifesto  given  to  their  follov^ers  by  Marx  and 
Engels  —  the  founders  of  so-called  "  Scientific  Social- 
ism." Moreover,  we  submit  that  those  vv^ho  hold  to  a 
contrary  opinion  are  quite  misled  as  to  the  mind  and  the 
purpose  of  this  world  movement  that  seeks  the  over- 
throw of  all  existing  governments  in  the  interest  of 
what  they  are  pleased  to  term  a  working  class  society. 

What  Is  Bolshevism  ? 

Bolshevism  is  precisely  what  Pope  Leo  XIII  said  it 
was  so  long  ago  as  1878  when  overlooking  the  moral 
confines  of  the  world  from  his  watch-tower  at  Rome  he 
warned  civilized  peoples  —  Catholics  and  non-Catholics 
alike  —  of  that  movement  that  was  gathering  its  forces 
for  an  assault  upon  religion,  the  family,  upon  private 
property  and  organized  society.  The  well  beloved  Leo 
made  it  plain  that  the  wicked  aims  of  Socialism  are  the 
logical  outcome  of  that  rebellion  four  hundred  years  ago 
against  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ. 
The  doctrine  of  private  interpretation  of  the  word  of 
God  weakened  into  liberalism,  atheism,  indifferentism, 
animalism  and  materialism ;  together  with  the  decline 
of  faith  there  was  an  increasing  despotism  of  rulers,  a 
swelling  arrogance  of  the  rich  and  growing  disregard 
for  the  rights  of  the  poor,  in  a  word  a  steep  declination 
towards  Paganism. 

What  then  is  Bolshevism  ?  It  may  well  be  an  omen 
—  the  presage  of  a  modem  Scourge  of  God.  A  blind 
leading  of  the  blind  in  an  almost  universal  reaction 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  303 

against  political  tyranny,  commercial  extortion  and  so- 
cial iniquity.  It  is  an  attempt  to  remedy  existing  evils 
by  enforcing  greater  evils  upon  a  long-suffering  and  sin- 
ful public.  Giving  its  promise  of  more  of  this  world's 
goods  and  greater  leisure  for  enjoyment,  it  seeks  to  unite 
the  power  of  the  working  class  under  a  dictatorship  that 
shall  conquer  the  capitalist  class  and  grind  to  powder 
the  "  capitalist-system  "  with  its  complement  the  "  wage- 
system." 

The  Class  Struggle 
The  present  "  class-struggle  "  between  capitatlist  mas- 
ters and  wage  slaves,  at  which  stage  in  human  evolution 
we  are  now  supposed  to  be,  is  about  to  climax ;  and  it  is 
predicted,  confidently,  that  a  "  class-less  society  "  shall 
emerge  from  the  world  conflict  and  thus  form  the  ma- 
terialist foundation  that  shall  support  the  race  of  super- 
men. Then,  happily,  there  shall  be  an  end  of  human 
nature  as  it  is  and  as  it  was ;  —  with  the  result  that  hu- 
man pain  and  misery  shall  be  at  an  end.  For  the  pur- 
pose of  looking  at  this  delusion  —  a  class-less  society  — 
we  shall  briefly  examine  its  antecedent  cause—  that  un- 
real thing  the  class-struggle.  The  necessity  for  so  doing 
may  not  to  the  novice  be  apparent.  But  if  one  would 
be  a  member  of  the  Socialist  Party  he  must  subscribe  to 
the  dogma  of  the  class-struggle,  even  though  only  a  few 
of  the  comrades  —  the  intellectuals  —  know  its  real 
import.  This  dogma,  stated  or  implied,  is  found  in  all 
the  Socialist  platforms.  It  was  first  promulgated  by 
Marx  and  Ep^^lg  jn  the  Communist  Manifesto.     As 


304  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

expanded  by  the  doctrinaries  of  to-day  it  reads ;  "  The 
history  of  all  hitherto  existing  society  is  the  history  of 
class  struggles." 

"  Socialism  is  the  workers'  side  of  the  class  struggle.  Un- 
less it  acknowledges  its  class  character,  Socialism  is  like 
the  play  of  Hamlet  without  the  melancholy  Dane,  like  a  ship 
at  sea  without  a  chart."  (Joseph  E.  Cohen,  "  Socialism  for 
Students,"  p.  47.) 

The  elder  Liebknecht  (Wilhelm)  one  of  the  pioneers 
ranking  next  to  the  founders  of  the  movement  makes  it 
certain  that  nothing  less  than  one  conflict  after  another, 
through  all  human  history,  in  which  the  less  fit  ceases 
to  survive  v^ill  suffice  for  the  adequate  cause  of  the  So- 
cialist movement,  to  quote: 

"  Pity  for  poverty,  enthusiasm  for  equality  and  freedom, 
recognition  of  social  injustice  and  a  desire  to  remove  it,  is  not 
socialism.  Condemnation  of  wealth  and  respect  for  poverty, 
such  as  we  find  in  Christianity  and  other  religions,  is  not  so- 
cialism. The  communism  of  early  times,  .  .  .  and  as  it  has 
at  all  times  and  among  all  people  been  the  elusive  dream  of 
some  enthusiasts,  is  not  socialism. 

"  In  all  these  appearances  is  lacking  the  real  foundation  of 
capitalist  society  with  its  class  antagonisms.  Modern  social- 
ism is  the  child  of  capitalist  society  and  its  class  antagonisms. 
Without  these  it  could  not  be." 

The  class-struggle  is  then  the  natural  power  that 
drives  men  to  act  in  getting  their  food  supply  just  as 
fatalistically  as  the  mill-wheel  is  driven  by  the  flow  of 
water  from  above  the  dam  against  it.  To  these  latest 
makers  of  human  nature  there  are  but  graded  steps  from 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  305 

the  mechanical  to  the  animal  and  but  another  flight  from 
the  animal  to  beings  capable  of  reason.  In  fact,  the 
Darwinian  theory  of  the  struggle  for  existence  in  the 
animal  world  has  been  borrowed,  then  extended  and 
made  to  apply  to  the  sociological  relationship  of  men 
upon  the  fields  of  industry,  commerce  and  finance.  In 
other  words,  the  big  capitalists  eat  up  the  little  ones 
thus  leaving  the  few  with  all  the  wealth  and  the  many 
with  no  property.  In  the  final  struggle,  the  fiercest  of 
all,  the  many  eat  up  the  few,  leaving  but  one  class  in 
existence  —  the  working  class. 

Indeed  this  is  a  delightfully  simple  explanation  of 
life,  its  one  fault  being  that  all  biologists  know  it  to  be 
false.  However,  as  Socialists  have  learned  to  respect 
aeither  truth  nor  knowledge  they  assume  that  class  antag- 
onisms, from  ameba  to  man,  account  for  the  changes 
in  the  political,  juridical  and  in  the  moral  systems  of 
the  race.  Thus  easily  is  human  nature  and  the  funda- 
mental principles  that  govern  human  society  gotten  rid 
of. 

Enrico  Eerri  is  the  Socialist  authority  on  this  phase 
of  the  theory  of  the  class-struggle.  We  quote  from  So- 
cialism and  Modem  Science  (p.  74)  : 

"Darwinism  has  demonstrated  that  the  entire  mechanism 
of  animal  evolution  may  he  reduced  to  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence between  individuals  of  the  same  species  on  the  one  hand, 
and  between  each  species  and  the  whole  world  of  living  be- 
ings." 

"In  the  same  way  all  the  machinery  of  social  evolution  has 
been  reduced  by  Marxian  socialism  to  the  law  of  the  Struggle 
between  Classes." 


306  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Indeed!  but  since  the  one  class  society  is  about  to 
make  its  appearance,  is  not  the  time  overdue  when  only- 
one  species  of  animal  were  to  be  seen  ? 

It  was  this  absurd  theory  of  the  class-struggle  that  led 
La  Salle  and  other  of  the  earlier  Socialist  leaders  to 
preach  the  Iron  law  of  wages.  This  was  the  rallying 
cry  that  brought  the  Social  Democratic  Party  of  Ger- 
many into  existence  and  into  power.  It  was  assumed 
that  in  the  struggle  between  the  capitalist  and  the  work- 
ing class  for  mastery  over  the  tools  of  production  that 
wages  must  gradually,  yet  inevitably,  fall  to  the  lowest 
subsistent  level  —  just  enough  to  supply  the  wage  earn- 
ers with  bread  without  butter  and  to  permit  them  to 
propagate  their  species. 

Of  course,  since  the  iron  law  of  wages  will  not  work 
it  has  long  since  been  abandoned  by  the  supposedly 
serious  spokesmen  of  the  movement.  Although  from  the 
chatter  of  their  popular  propagandists  one  must  con- 
clude that  this  law  is  still  their  stronghold. 

Through  their  organization  into  trade  unions  work- 
men themselves  know  that  by  trade  agreement,  collec- 
tive bargaining,  conciliation  and  arbitration  boards  they 
have  assuaged  the  conflicts  between  themselves  and 
their  employers.  The  standard  of  living  has  been  ele- 
vated, hours  of  labor  shortened,  wages  increased  and 
working  conditions  bettered  in  mines,  mills  and  factor- 
ies. Thus  the  historic  facts  show  that  the  wage-earners 
have  moved  in  the  opposite  direction  from  that  pre- 
dicted under  the  theory  of  the  class  struggle. 

However,  the  class-struggle  theory  has  done  deadly 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  307 

work,  it  has  instilled  into  millions  of  minds  the  vicious 
notion  that  workingmen  have  no  country.  Fully  to  ac- 
cept the  class-struggle  is  to  wipe  out  love  for  and  obedi- 
ence to  one's  country.  Louis  B.  Boudin  is  a  Marxian 
authority  on  this  phase  of  the  question,  beyond  dispute. 
From  "Socialism  and  War"  (N.  Y.  1916,  pp.  216- 
217)  we  quote:  "The  theory  of  the  Class  Struggle  is 
in  absolute  and  irreconcilable  opposition  to  the  national- 
istic theory  of  patriotism, —  while  its  practise  makes  the 
practise  of  patriotic  virtues  utterly  impossible." 

"It  is  primarily  a  historical  theory,  an  attempt  to  explain 
the  progress  of  mankind  and  the  means  whereby  this  progress 
is  brought  about.  As  such  it  denies  the  role  ascribed  to  race 
and  nationality  as  factors  of  human  progress  by  the  national- 
istic theory,  and  considers  these  entities  mere  incidents  in  the 
evolution  of  mankind,  brought  forth  at  a  certain  stage  of  this 
evolution  bound  to  disappear  with  it." 

Surely,  to  the  understanding  of  Bolshevism  one  must 
bring  an  understanding  of  the  class-struggle,  since  Bol- 
shevism is  an  attempt  to  carry  the  class-struggle  on  to  its 
final  result  —  the  classless  society.  Nothing  could  bet- 
ter illustrate  the  perversity  of  human  willfulness  than 
this  attempt  to  carry  into  practise  a  doctrine  that  is,  by 
the  facts  in  the  case,  contradicted  in  every  one  of  its 
basic  elements.  The  doctrine  of  the  class-struggle  de- 
clares for  the  elimination  of  the  middle  class;  but  the 
middle  class  is  not  being  eliminated.  It  demands  the 
absolute  increase  of  the  working  class ;  but  the  working 
class  is  not  increasing  in  numbers  relatively.  It  de- 
mands the  centralization  of  all  productive  capital  into 


308  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  hands  of  the  few ;  but  statistics  show  a  much  wider 
distribution  of  productive  wealth  than  was  the  case  at 
the  time  Marx  and  Engels  laid  down  the  dogma  of  the 
Class-Struggle, 

Class-less  Society 

The  next  step  in  the  process  of  making  laws  for  the 
social  organism  to  follow  is  taken  as  dogmatically  by 
Marx  as  any  that  we  have  recorded.  The  future  thus 
stands  revealed  —  as  against  the  same  thought  of  the 
whole  world  —  in  his :  "  Poverty  of  Philosophy  "  ;  while 
around  this  perversity  of  right-reason  his  satellites  have 
ever  since  hovered  like  the  rim  of  a  wheel  around  its 
axis.     To  quote: 

"  The  essential  condition  of  the  emancipation  of  the  work- 
ing class  is  the  abolition  of  all  classes." 

"  The  working  class  will  substitute,  in  the  course  of  its 
development,  for  the  old  order  of  civil  society  an  association 
which  will  exclude  classes  and  their  antagonism,  and  there 
will  no  longer  be  political  power,  properly  speaking,  since 
political  power  is  simply  the  official  form  of  the  antagonism 
in  civil  society." 

In  the  vernacular  this  means  that  when  the  last  fight 
is  over  the  politicians  shall  be  the  sole  survivors.  They 
shall  be  the  sole  possessors  of  the  capital  of  the  world, 
perish  the  thought  that  the  production  of  wealth  shall 
take  place  save  for  use.  Every  nation  under  the  sun 
that  is  then  permitted  to  shine  shall  have  died  out,  since 
politics  shall  be  no  more  forever  and  a  day.  The  home 
shall  be  everybody's  and  nobody's  for  the  family  shall 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  309 

cease  to  exist  because  the  children  all  belong  to  the  state. 
Although  the  state  is  dead,  because  it  still  shall  live, 
long  live  the  state.  Be  pleased  to  believe,  whether  you 
like  it  or  not,  that  this  edict  has  gone  forth  and  that  no 
hot  or  no  cold  discussions  as  to  whether  Marx  meant  the 
poverty  of  philosophy  or  the  misery  of  philosophy  shall 
hinder  this  old  globe  from  working  out  the  blind  destiny 
of  man  as  the  exact  reproduction  of  the  discovery  of  So- 
cialism, by  its  founders. 

Next  in  dogmatic  authority  to  Karl  Marx  comes 
Frederick  Engels.  We  quote  from  his  "  classic  "  "  So- 
cialism Utopian  and  Scientific," 

"  The  Proletariat  seizes  the  machinery  of  the  state  and 

CONVERTS  the  MEANS  OF  PRODUCTION  FIRST  INTO  STATE  PROPERTY. 

But  by  80  doing,  it  extinguishes  itself  as  proletariat;  by  so 
doing  it  extinguishes  all  class  distinctions  and  class  con- 
trasts; and  along  with  them  the  State  as  such.  The  society 
that  existed  until  then,  and  that  moved  in  class  contrasts, 
needed  the  state,  i.  e.,  an  organization  of  whatever  class 
happened  at  the  time  to  be  the  exploiting  one,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  preserving  the  external  conditions  under  which  it 
carried  on  production;  in  other  words,  for  the  purpose  of 
forcibly  keeping  the  exploited  class  down  in  that  condition  of 
subjectioH  —  slavery,  bondage  or  vassalage,  or  wage-labor, 
which  the  corresponding  mode  of  production  predicated." 

".  .  .  Soon  as  no  longer  there  is  any  social  class  to  be  kept 
down;  soon  as,  together  with  class  rule  and  the  individual 
struggle  for  life,  founded  in  the  previous  anarchy  of  pro- 
duction, the  conflicts  and  excesses  that  issued  therefrom  have 
been  removed,  there  is  nothing  more  to  be  repressed,  and 
rendering  necessary  a  special  power  of  repression  —  the  State. 
The  first  act,  wherein  the  State  appears  as  the  real  represen- 
tative of  the  whole  body  social  —  the  seizure  of  the  means  of 


310  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

production  in  the  name  of  society  —  is  also  its  last  inde- 
pendent act  as  State.  The  interference  of  the  State  in  social 
relations  becomes  superfluous  in  one  domain  after  another, 
and  falls  of  itself  into  desuetude.  The  place  of  a  government 
over  persons  is  taken  hy  the  administration  of  things  and  the 
conduct  of  the  processes  of  production.  The  State  is  not 
*  abolished ' —  rr  dies  out." 

In  the  Communist  Manifesto  (1848),  which  holds  the 
distinction  of  being  the  "  supreme  classic  "  of  Socialist 
literature,  the  class-less  society  is  predicted  to  come 
into  existence  together  with  the  freedom  of  the  working 
class  from  capitalist  oppression,  we  quote : 

"  When,  in  the  course  of  development,  class  distinctions 
have  disappeared  and  all  production  has  been  concentrated 
in  the  hands  of  a  vast  association  of  the  whole  nation,  the 
public  power  will  lose  its  political  character.  Political  power, 
properly  so  called,  is  merely  the  organized  power  of  one  class 
for  oppressing  another." 

For  a  further  pronouncement  upon  the  revolution  in 
ideas  we  cull  this  from  the  Origin  of  the  Family,  Private 
Property  and  the  State  (Engels  and  Marx)  : 

"  We  are  now  rapidly  approaching  a  stage  of  evolution  in 
production,  in  which  the  existence  of  classes  has  not  only 
ceased  to  be  a  necessity,  but  becomes  a  positive  fetter  on  pro- 
duction. Hence  these  classes  must  fall  as  inevitably  as 
they  once  arose.  The  state  must  irrevocably  fall  with  them. 
The  society  that  is  to  reorganize  production  on  the  basis  of 
a  free  and  equal  association  of  the  producers,  will  transfer  the 
machinery  of  state  where  it  will  then  belong:  into  the  Mu- 
seum of  Antiquities  by  the  side  of  the  spinning  wheel  and 
the  bronze  ax." 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  311 

Although  the  picture  of  the  classless  society  is  never 
absent  from  the  Socialist  literati  who  dip  into  the  future 
much  further  than  the  human  eye  can  see  and  hold  to 
common  sense,  we  shall  cite  only  a  few  of  their  fervid 
imaginings  that  are  set  down  as  positively  as  any- 
master  chemist  would  state  the  result  of  the  simplest 
laboratory  process.  On  Nov.  7th,  1917,  the  Bolsheviki 
set  up  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Republic, 
under  the  Premier  Nickolai  Lenin  with  Leon  Trotsky 
as  minister  of  war.  Then,  from  all  over  the  world,  went 
up  the  cry  from  their  comrades  —  Socialism  is  here ! 
Never  again  can  Socialism  be  called  an  idle  dream  of 
long-haired  men  and  short-haired  women !  Truly,  with 
the  usurpation  of  the  democratic  power  of  the  Constitu- 
ent Assembly,  by  Lenin  and  Trotsky,  Socialism  passed 
from  proposal  into  action  —  into  Bolshevism,  the  so- 
cialization of  private  property  in  Russia  together  with 
all  that  may  be  implied  with  despotic  power  in  the  hands 
of  men  who  practise  the  doctrine  of  moral  irresponsibil- 
lity. 

No  wonder  there  are  those  who  attempt  to  separate 
Socialism  from  Bolshevism !  Since  August  Bebel, 
ranking  highest  after  the  founders  of  this  proletarian 
cult,  says  in  Woman  and  Socialism  (p.  435)  he  is  con- 
fident that,  ''  With  the  abolition  of  private  property  and 
class  antagonism,  the  state,  too,  will  gradually  pass  out 
of  existence." 

Bebel  is  practised  in  the  art  of  destruction,  not  alone 
does  he  throw  the  state  overboard,  but  religion  and  the 
family  are  sent  to  the  bottom  of  the  deep  sea,  in  the 


312  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

same  books.  Philip  Eappaport  is  as  confidently  expect- 
ing the  classless  society :  "  From  its  inception  to  this 
day,  the  state  has  been,  and  still  is  a  class  institution. 
It  could  not  and  cannot  he  anything  also.  It  owes  its 
creation  to  the  existence  of  classes,  it  will  last  as  long  as 
classes  exist  and  will  disappear  whenever  they  cease  Jo 
exist/"     ("  Looking  Forward,"  p.  180.) 

No  doubt,  that  the  state  is  dependent  upon  classes; 
no  doubt  that  it  shall  last  as  long  as  classes  exist, —  that 
is  to  say  until  the  end  of  the  world,  which  God  may 
wipe  out  quickly,  it  is  so  wicked.  But  the  point  for 
sane  men  to  consider  is  the  doing  away  with  the  political 
and  economic  injustices  that  peace  may  come  to  earth. 
Arthur  Morrow  Lewis  carries  the  matter  back  to  its  first 
principles  ("Vital  Problems  in  Social  Evolution,"  p. 
T8)  even  while  he  denies  the  very  ground  of  reason  since 
he  dismisses  the  first  cause  as  non-existent.  Thus  his 
passion  for  the  revolution  excludes  from  his  view  Al- 
mighty God  whom  rational  minds  must  first  take  cog- 
nizance of,  together  with  the  state  that  is  absolutely 
necessary  to  civil  society.  Mr.  Lewis  unhappily  lacks 
the  simple,  yet  fundamental  knowledge  that  since  God's 
government  over  man  is  first,  constant  and  final,  the  state 
is  His  agency  to  protect  the  natural  rights  given  to  the 
individuals  of  the  human  race  by  Him  who  made  all 
things  in  heaven  and  in  earth.     We  quote : 

"  Just  as  God,  whom  nobody  has  seen  or  felt  is  a  fig- 
ment of  the  religious  brain,  so  the  state  with  its  laws, 
its  soldiers  and  police,  is  a  mirage  of  the  political  im- 
agination! " 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  313 

But  there  comes  a  time  for  reckoning.  In  tHe  lives  of 
men  it  is  for  eternity,  in  the  lives  of  nations  it  is  for 
time.  It  may  be  hoped  that  the  violence  with  which 
one  despotism  has  been  thrown  off  by  another,  more 
horrible  in  every  aspect,  in  the  alleged  attempt  to  set 
up  a  one-class  society  in  Russia,  shall  have  the  effect  of 
bringing  many  minds  back  to  the  normal  —  there  are 
cheering  signs  that  it  shall  be  so.  Certain  it  is  that 
the  state  is  being  battered  from  within  as  never  before  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Yet  the  facts  show  that  while 
the  Bolsheviki  are,  by  their  international  comrades,  ex- 
pected to  set  up  a  classless  society, —  even  now  while 
the  dictators  of  the  proletariat  are  killing  off  the  Czar, 
the  royal  family,  the  nobility  and  the  bourgeoisie  — 
these  same  class-conscious  haters  of  classes  are  creating 
fresh  classes  —  to  carry  on  the  state?  If  not,  it  is  to 
give  Russia  over  to  the  control  of  a  foreign  government. 

To  await  the  slowly  gasping  state  to  end  its  life  is 
rather  too  sluggish  a  process  for  American  Idealists,  the 
slower  going  Germans  may,  of  course,  permit  the  politi- 
cal state  to  die  out.  But  Robert  Rives  La  Monte  will 
hasten  the  end  of  all  government  over  persons.  The 
state  shall,  instanter,  end  its  own  life. 

"It  is  thiLs  seen  that,  according  to  the  teaching  of 
historical  materialism,  the  State  is  destined,  when  it 
becomes  the  State  of  the  working  class,  to  remove  its  own 
foundation  —  economic  inequality  —  and  thus,  to  com- 
mit suicide."  ("  Socialism:  Positive  and  Negative,"  p. 
113.) 

The  distinguished  doctrinaries  are  not  without  the 


314  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

backing  of  their  multitude.  The  Socialist  platform 
(1916)  demands  a  classless  society — "a  complete  tri- 
umph of  the  working  class  as  the  only  class  that  has  the 
right  or  power  to  he." 

The  Socialist  Labor  Party  platform  (1912)  is  not 
less  emphatic  in  its  convictions,  but  it  is  more  highly 
"  scientific  "  since  it  does  not  commit  the  error  of  using 
a  moral  word  — "  right " —  since  neither  moral  words 
nor  deeds  belong  to  a  category  consonant  with  material- 
istic atheism  upon  which  the  whole  movement  is 
founded : 

"  The  Political  State,  another  name  for  the  Class  State,  is 
worn  out  in  this,  the  leading  capitalist  Nation  of  the  world, 
most  prominently.  The  Industrial  or  Socialist  State  is  throh- 
hing  for  hirth.  The  Political  State,  heing  a  Class  State,  is 
government  separate  and  apart  from  the  productive  energies 
of  the  people;  it  is  government  mainly  for  holding  the  ruled 
class  in  subjection.  The  Industrial  or  Socialist  State,  heing 
the  denial  of  the  Class  State,  is  government  that  is  part  and 
parcel  of  the  productive  energies  of  the  people." 

"As  their  functions  are  different,  so  are  the  structures  of 
the  two  States  different.  The  structure  of  the  Political  State 
contemplates  territorial  representation  only;  the  structure  of 
the  Industrial  State  contemplates  representation  of  industries, 
or  useful  occupation  only." 

"  The  program  of  the  Socialist  Labor  Party  is  Revolution 
—  the  Industrial  or  Socialist  Republic,  the  Social  Order  where 
the  Political  State  is  overthrown;  where  the  Congress  of  the 
land  consists  of  the  representatives  of  the  useful  occupations 
of  the  land;  where  accordingly,  a  government  is  an  essential 
factor  in  production  — " 

From  the  time  of  this  penning,  the  furor  for  making 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  315 

the  world  fit  for  democracy  flattered  the  notion  of  a  class- 
less society.  Socialists  made  much  of  it  with  never  a 
thought  of  making  democracy  fit  for  the  world.  Since, 
of  course,  the  rage  had  not  gone  so  far  as  to  demand  a 
complete  surrender  of  private  property  —  of  class  dis- 
tinction in  economics,  socialists  and  near-socialists 
goaded  it  on  with  rare  skill.  They  considered  it  an 
impertinence  for  any  nation  under  the  sun,  even 
our  own  Columbia,  to  hold  up  its  head.  They  were  em- 
phatic —  the  state  must  die  out,  commit  suicide,  or  at 
best  go  to  the  old  curiosity  shop.  The  new  order  — 
in  their  minds  — "  throbbing  for  birth  "  was  sure  to 
bring  in  the  Marxian  society.  Ah,  but  that  word  state ! 
It  still  persists!  By  their  reckoning  it  should  connote 
nothing  more  than  a  "  mirage  of  political  imagination." 
Long  ago  they  discarded  what  is  ever  self-evident  to  no- 
ble statesmen  —  that  as  religion  lays  the  just  foundation 
of  human  society,  the  state  is  an  aggregation  of  families 
forming  a  moral  body  with  a  physical  territory.  That 
the  proper  functions  of  the  state  are  to  safeguard  the 
natural  rights  of  its  family  units,  and  that  the  right 
to  own  and  to  operate  private  property,  for  the  material 
advantage  of  buyer  and  seller,  is  the  binding  force  that 
keeps  the  structure  intact.  The  failure  of  the  Bolshe- 
viki  to  leave  the  "  bourgeois  "  term  state  behind  them, 
even  while  these  villains  plunder  in  the  name  of  democ- 
racy, should  remind  those  not  wholly  under  the  spell 
that  since  reason  is  a  natural  function  of  the  human  race, 
men  refuse  to  be  one  hundred  per  cent,  irrational.  To 
do  full  justice,  this  is  darkly  known  to  them,  as  their 


316         ■     BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

ground  had  been  shifted  a  little  before  the  practical 
diflSculty  of  the  Bolsheviki  in  getting  rid  of  the  term 
came  on.  With  his  latent  talent  for  Talmudic  dispu- 
tation highly  evolved  Mr.  Hillquit  came  to  the  rescue 
of  common  sense,  only  just  so  far  as  the  word  goes. 
Indeed,  his  we  is  really  an  ex-cathedra  pronouncement: 

"  The  Socialist  society  as  conceived  by  modern  Socialists 
differs,  of  course,  very  radically  from  the  modern  state  in 
form  and  substance. —  It  is  not  the  slaveholding  state,  nor  the 
feudal  state,  nor  the  state  of  the  bourgeois, —  it  is  a  Socialist 
state,  but  a  state  nevertheless,  and  since  little  or  nothing  can 
be  gained  by  inventing  a  new  term,  we  shall  hereafter  desig- 
nate the  proposed  organized  Socialist  society  as  the  Socialist 
State."     ("  Socialism  in  Theory  and  Practice,"  p.  100.)    . 

The  Socialist  State, 

Even  so, —  state  it  was,  state  it  is  and  state  it  shall 
be  —  but,  although  their  language  swings  back  to  the 
normal  now  and  again,  their  aim  has  not  departed  from 
the  revolution.  To  Lenin  and  Trotsky  came  the  bloody 
distinction  of  applying  their  doctrine  on  a  national  scale. 
They  "  seized  the  machinery  of  the  state  —  by  means  of 
a  revolution,"  took  possession  in  the  name  of  the  pro- 
letariat and  immediately  proceeded,  by  taking  possession 
of  the  national  wealth  and  that  in  private  hands,  to 
abolish  political  and  economic  classes. 

The  ground  upon  which  this  reign  of  terror  is  predi- 
cated may  now  be  presented.  The  Constitution  of  the 
All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  will  tell  just  what  is  in- 
tended by  wresting  from  owners  all  productive  capital. 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  317 

land  included,  whether  justly  or  unjustly  acquired.     We 
quote  in  part: 

"  In  order  to  put  an  end  to  every  ill  that  oppresses  human- 
ity and  in  order  to  secure  to  labor  all  the  rights  belonging  to 
it,  we  recognize  that  it  is  necessary  to  destroy  the  existing 
social  structure,  which  rests  upon  private  property  in  the  soil 
and  the  means  of  production,  in  the  spoliation  and  oppression 
of  the  laboring  masses,  and  to  substitute  for  it  a  Socialist 
structure.  Then  the  whole  earth,  its  surface  and  its  depths, 
and  all  the  means  and  instruments  of  production,  created  by 
the  toil  of  the  laboring  classes,  will  belong  by  right  of  common 
property  to  the  whole  people,  who  are  united  in  a  fraternal 
association  of  laborers. 

"  Only  by  giving  society  a  Socialist  structure  can  the  di- 
vision of  it  into  hostile  classes  be  destroyed,  only  so  can 
we  put  an  end  to  the  spoliation  and  oppression  of  men  by 
men,  of  class  by  class ;  and  all  men  —  placed  upon  an  equality 
as  to  rights  and  duties  —  will  contribute  to  the  welfare  of 
society  according  to  their  strength  and  capacities,  and  will 
receive  from  society  according  to  their  requirements. 

"  The  complete  liberation  of  the  laboring  classes  from  spo- 
liation and  oppression  appears  as  a  problem,  not  locally  or 
nationally  limited,  but  as  a  world  problem  and  it  can  be  car- 
ried out  to  its  end  only  through  the  united  exertions  of  work- 
ingmen  of  all  lands.  Therefore,  the  sacred  duty  rests  upon 
the  working  class  of  every  country  to  come  to  the  assistance  of 
the  workingmen  of  other  countries  who  have  risen  against 
the  capitalistic  structure  of  society. 

"  The  working  class  of  Kussia,  true  to  the  legacy  of  the 
International,  overthrew  their  bourgeoisie  in  October,  1917, 
and,  with  the  help  of  the  poorest  peasantry,  seized  the  powers 
of  government.  In  establishing  a  dictatorship  of  the  pro- 
letariat and  the  poorest  peasantry,  the  working  class  resolved 
to  wrest  capital  from  the  hands  of  the  bourgeoisie,  to  unite  all 


318  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  means  of  production  in  the  hands  of  the  Socialist  state 
and  thus  to  increase  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  mass  of  pro- 
ductive forces. 

"  As  soon  as  production  shall  have  been  consolidated 
in  the  hands  of  the  working  masses,  united  in  a  gigantic  as- 
sociation, ...  as  soon  as  the  old  bourgeois  state  with  its 
classes  and  class  hatred,  is  definitely  superseded  by  a  firmly 
established  Socialist  society  which  rests  upon  universal  la- 
bor, .  .  .  then,  along  with  the  disappearance  of  class  differ- 
ences, will  disappear  also  the  necessity  for  the  dictatorship  of 
the  working  classes  and  for  state  power  as  the  instrument  of 
class  domination." 

Any  doubt  as  to  the  calamitous  legacy  which  the  old 
International  inflicted  upon  the  race  should  be  dispelled 
since  it  has  now  come  into  the  world  of  things  that 
are.  From  the  utterly  false  ideology  then  set  afloat 
two  fundamental  errors  are  selected  as  forming  the 
false  objective  of  Socialists  the  world  over.  First  — 
the  notion  that  the  toil  of  the  laboring  class  has  created 
all  the  instruments  of  production  and  the  wealth  pro- 
duced; with  the  conclusion  that  all  property  should  be 
held  in  common.  Second  —  the  notion  that  the  state  is 
an  instrument  by  which  the  highest  class  has  subjugated 
and  exploited  all  below  it ;  the  wage-earning  class  being 
the  last  class  in  revolt  against  the  capitalist  class  as 
the  climax  in  the  evolutionary  series. 

The  notion  that  labor  alone  creates  economic  value 
is  the  absurd  dogma  around  which  Marx  builds  his  en- 
tire —  we  had  almost  said  —  structure,  but  even  theory 
is  too  strong  a  word  —  better  a  crazy  tower  of  ponder- 
ous words.     That  the  rational  exercise  of  one's  labor 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  319 

power  in  working  out  an  economic  design,  is  a  prime 
factor  in  the  creation  of  commodities,  with  the  conse- 
quence that  economic  value  is  deposited  within  the 
merchandise,  no  sane  man  denies.  But  sane  minds  are 
equally  insistent  that  other  factors  are  as  necessary  to 
the  creation  of  e<;onomic  value.  Only  to  hint  at  the 
necessity  of  distinguishing  between  labor  and  work  — 
we  point  out  that  those,  who  by  native  genius  and  at- 
tained capacity,  design  and  direct  industrial,  commer- 
cial and  financial  enterprises  are  two  prime  factors  in 
the  creation  of  wealth  and  so  of  economic  value.  Be- 
sides it  is  universally  recognized  that  resident  within 
natural  objects,  forces  and  substances,  appropriated  to 
the  uses  of  civilized  society,  there  is  economic  value. 
Also,  that  the  Commonwealth  itself,  as  the  truly  compe- 
tent maker  of  money,  contributes  —  by  facilitating  ex- 
change —  to  the  enterprise  of  wealth  production  and  is 
therefore  an  essential  factor  in  the  creation  of  economic 
value.  Herein  is  seen  the  monstrous  injustice  of  the 
assertion  that  since  all  the  economic  value  extant  was 
"  created  by  the  toil  of  the  laboring  classes  "  it  should 
be  confiscated  by  them  once  the  working  class  has  con- 
trol of  the  state. 

'No  less  absurd  is  the  notion  that  the  organized  power 
of  civil  society  is  merely  a  club  that  having,  upon 
revolution  upon  revolution,  passed  from  one  class  to 
another  is  now  almost  in  the  hands  of  wage-slaves, 
with  which  to  knock  and  drag  out  the  capitalist  class, 
that  hereafter  proletarians  shall  inhabit  the  earth.  So 
clearly  has  the  mind  of  Pope  Leo  XIII  seen  the  designs 


320  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

of  Almighty  God  in  creating  the  constitution  natural 
to  rational  beings,  by  which,  if  they  will  but  obey  the 
moral  law,  provision  is  made  for  justice  and  equity, 
peace  and  plenty,  to  spread  its  benign  rule  over  the  face 
of  the  earth,  that  we  shall  quote  from  his  Encyclical  on 
"  The  Christian  Constitution  of  the  State  " : 

"  Man's  natural  instinct  moves  him  to  live  in  Civil  society, 
for  he  cannot,  in  dwelling  apart,  provide  himself  with  the 
necessary  requirements  of  life,  nor  procure  the  means  of  de- 
veloping his  mental  and  moral  faculties.  Hence  it  is  divinely 
ordained  that  he  should  lead  his  life  —  be  it  family,  social 
or  civil  —  with  his  fellowmen,  amongst  whom  alone  his  sev- 
eral wants  can  be  adequately  supplied." 

The  experience  of  Defoe's  "  Eobinson  Crusoe  "  serves 
well  as  a  picture  of  human  society  about  to  become  ex- 
tinct, not  as  a  sound  basis  for  viewing  economics  or  poli- 
tics. Economic  value  was  a  thing  unknown  save  for 
the  exchange  by  members  of  organized  society  of  the 
differing  necessities  of  living.  Which,  as  we  have  said 
elsewhere,  takes  place  normally  for  reasons  of  mutual 
advantage  in  the  possession  of  something  different,  as 
boots  for  dollars,  upon  a  basis  of  equity.  The  individ- 
uals decide  what  they  want  more  than  what  they  have, 
and  the  state  sets  up  economic  value  objectively  in 
money,  two  functions  of  which  is  to  measure  value  and 
set  the  price  of  commodities  that  the  equities  between 
all  citizens  may  be  safe-guarded.  Robinson  Crusoe  also 
serves  as  a  contrast  between  men  under  government  and 
the  pure  liberty  of  a  lone  man  on  a  desert  island. 
Crusoe  is  indeed  under  the  command  of  God,  but  he  can 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  321 

render  nothing  to  Caesar,  since  even  the  family  —  the 
unit  of  the  state  and  the  lowest  terms  to  which  human 
government  can  be  reduced  —  is  absent.  It  should  be 
seen  that  whatever  the  form,  aristocratic  or  democratic, 
government  to  be  valid  must,  humanly  speaking,  be  just, 
since  in  the  nature  of  things  the  same  divine  law  that 
governs  the  individual  and  the  family  gives  sanction  to 
the  state,  in  safeguarding  the  life,  freedom  and  prop- 
erty of  its  members. 

DiCTATOKSHIP    OF    THE    PROLETARIAT 

This  being  so  —  Rousseau  to  the  contrary  notwith- 
standing —  rightly  informed  men  reject  in  toto  the  no- 
tion that  the  power  of  the  state  is  merely  of  human 
sanction.  God  gives  to  Caesar  his  power  to  rule  wisely, 
not  illy,  over  the  peoples  of  nations.  Hence  Christians 
completely  reject  the  Socialist-Bolshevist  contention  that 
the  state  is  an  arbitrary  organization  in  the  control  of 
one  class  to  subject  to  its  will,  to  coerce  another  class  for 
its  economic  advantage.  Nevertheless  it  is  their  per- 
verse intention  to  follow  an  ideology  that  pictures  two 
opposing  and  impossible  schemes.  Namely,  a  free  so- 
ciety of  persons  —  no  law  whatever  over  them,  together 
with  an  authoritative  administration  over  the  production 
of  all  commodities  by  the  entire  community,  that  shall  be 
absolute  in  its  control :  —  Anarchy  and  slavery !  To 
this  end  the  Bolsheviki  destroyed  the  Constituent  Assem- 
bly that  was  made  up  of  various  representatives  of  the 
various  classes  and  the  various  political  divisions  of  the 
sometime  Russian  Empire,  then  set  up  what  they  are 


322  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

pleased  to  style  a  "  Dictatorship  of  the  Proletariat." 
This  phrase  was  coined  by  Marx  and  Engels  to  signify 
the  rule  of  the  working  class  on  its  "  road  to  power," 
which  simply  means  that  during  the  period  when  land 
and  capital  are  being  confiscated  and  the  life  of  the 
bourgeoisie  wiped  out  that  the  power  for  red  ruin  must 
be  in  the  hands,  not  of  the  people,  but  of  a  despot.  Le- 
nin defends  the  dictum  and  carries  out  the  Socialists'  in- 
struction of  more  than  one  half  century  ago : 

"  The  historical  experience  of  all  revolutions,  the  universal 
historical  —  economic  and  political  —  lesson  was  summed  up 
by  Marx  in  his  brief,  sharp,  exact  and  vivid  formula:  the 
dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  And  that  the  Kussian  revolu- 
tion has  correctly  approached  this  universal  historical  prob- 
lem has  been  proved  by  the  victorious  march  of  the  Soviet  or- 
ganization among  all  the  peoples  and  tongues  of  Russia." 
(«  Soviets  at  Work,"  p.  31.) 

There  should  be  no  mistake  on  this  point  of  Socialist 
doctrine,  since  this  is  The  Revolution  to  be  brought 
about  in  every  country  in  the  world  —  save  Russia, 
where  it  is  accomplished.  Their  constitution  sets  it 
down  in  no  uncertain  terms  and  it  is  the  one  doctrine 
that  falls  within  the  mental  grasp  of  every  one  of  their 
world-wide  membership.  The  Revolution  is  the  first 
step  to  be  taken  in  the  process  of  centralizing  all  private 
property  into  the  hands  of  the  one  class  society,  and  a 
dictator  is  necessary  to  carry  out  the  Revolution.  We 
quote  from  the  Communist  Manifesto: 

"  The  first  step  in  the  revolution  by  the  working  class  is 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  323 

to  raise  the  proletariat  to  the  position  of  the  ruling  class;  to 
win  the  battle  of  democracy. 

"  The  proletariat  will  use  its  political  supremacy  to  wrest, 
by  degrees,  all  capital  from  the  bourgeoisie;  to  centralize  all 
instruments  of  production  in  the  hands  of  the  State,  i.  e., 
of  the  proletariat  organized  as  the  ruling  class;  and  to  in- 
crease the  total  of  productive  forces  as  rapidly  as  possible. 

"  Of  course,  in  the  beginning  this  cannot  be  effected  except 
by  means  of  despotic  inroads  on  the  rights  of  property  and 
on  the  conditions  of  bourgeois  production." 

But  Marx  was  too  fully  determined  upon  leadership 
to  leave  his  followers  without  the  translation  of  this  doo- 
trine  into  its  personal  term.  His  Critique  of  the  Gotha 
Program  does  this: 

"  Between  the  capitalistic  society  and  the  communistic,  lies 
the  period  of  the  revolutionary  transformation  of  the  one  into 
the  other.  This  corresponds  to  a  political  transition  period, 
in  which  the  state  cannot  he  anything  else  hut  the  dictator- 
ship of  the  proletariat." 

Yes,  Marx  is  dead,  but  Lenin  has  been  found  quite 
equal  to  this  task  —  rapine,  bloodshed,  rape  and  mur- 
der. Yet  withal  Lenin  deems  his  dictatorship  of  the 
proletariat  as  something  "  too  mild,  quite  frequently  re- 
sembling jam  rather  than  iron."  In  his  booklet  — "  So- 
viets at  Work  " —  more  drastic  action  against  the  bour- 
geoisie is  called  for.  Under  his  condemnation  espe- 
cially falls  these  genteel  and  pale  reds  who  do  not  relish 
following  out  to  the  letter  their  law  in  the  Marxian  Tal- 
mud. Lenin  knows  that  "  Dictatorship  is  a  great  word, 
and  great  words  must  not  be  in  vain.     A  dictatorship  is 


324  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

an  iron  rule,  with  revolutionary  daring  and  swift  and 
merciless  in  the  suppression  of  the  exploiters  as  well  as 
the  things,  and  the  rule  is  too  mild,  quite  frequently  re- 
sembling jam  rather  than  iron." 

Truly  there  is  much  in  the  point  of  view ;  or  rather  in 
the  fundamental  principles  upon  which  judgment  is 
based.  From  the  reports  of  the  Socialists  themselves,  it 
would  seem  that  the  Russian  dictatorship  had  acted 
swiftly  and  mercilessly  in  this  revolution,  that  the  activ- 
ities of  the  Red  Guard  are  as  much  like  "  jam  "  as  hor- 
ror and  terror  can  be  made. 

However,  our  concern,  just  here,  is  to  make  it  evident 
that  the  doctrine  of  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is 
taken  as  part  and  parcel  of  Socialism.  Referring  to  the 
demonstration  in  Russia  The  Proletarian,  a  Socialist 
monthly  published  in  Detroit  (Jan.,  1919),  very  frankly 
acknowledges  the  doctrine  and  as  frankly  expresses  an 
opinion  that  sound  minds  will  be  glad  to  note,  that  not  all 
its  followers  are  ready  to  carry  Socialism  to  its  logical 
conclusion :  "  Here  we  have  the  classical  statement  of 
the  Marxian  class-struggle  theory,  showing  its  logical 
outcome  to  he  a  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat.  While 
practically  all  Socialists  give  this  theory  their  tacit  en- 
dorsement, it  is  doubtful  if  all  who  call  themselves  So- 
cialists realize  its  portent,  and  would  put  these  princi- 
ples into  actual  operation." 

The  RevolutioTiary  Age  (Boston,  Dec.  7,  1918)  tells 
what  a  proletarian  dictatorship  means  and  the  reason 
why  a  truly  democratic  government  is  not  to  be  toler- 
ated: 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  325 

"  The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  is  a  recognition  of  the 
fact  that  only  one  class  in  society  counts,  the  working  class; 
that  it  is  the  mission  of  this  class  to  end  class  rule  by  an- 
nihilating the  basis  of  class  rule  —  the  bourgeois  control  of 
industry.  In  the  reconstruction  of  society  on  a  Socialist 
basis,  the  proletariat  alone  is  the  dynamic  force;  all  other 
classes  are  necessarily  opposed  to  Socialism,  and  counter- 
revolutionary. A  Constituent  Assembly,  accordingly,  by  in- 
stituting a  '  government  of  all  the  classes,'  acts  against  the 
coming  of  Socialism;  and  while  in  this  government  'Social- 
ist '  influence  may  be  strong  or  even  predominant,  the  gov- 
ernment will  gradually  become  more  and  more  bourgeois, 
since  the  retention  of  bourgeois  democracy,  of  bourgeois  con- 
trol of  industry,  of  the  parliamentary  and  other  institutions 
of  Capitalism  will  baffle  proletarian  action,  will  strengthen 
the  control  of  the  bourgeoisie,  and  the  '  government  of  all 
classes '  becomes  a  government  of  one  class  —  the  predatory 
class  of  capital." 

Here,  in  a  nutshell,  is  the  principle  upon  which  the 
repudiation  of  democracy  in  government  takes  place  in 
the  socialist  mind  —  the  open  confession  that  the  one- 
class  society  must  rule  by  a  dictatorship  which  is  also  the 
tacit  confession  that  ere  the  one-class  society  has  been 
established  it  shall  be  divided  into  dictators  and  the 
proletariat.  Therefore,  we  make  the  point  that  this  is 
but  one  of  the  many  thousands  of  ways  Socialists  have 
of  talking  about  an  impossible  regime  —  the  classless 
society.  Whatever  it  be  called,  free  society  or  what  not, 
this  scheme  of  Marx  has  no  chance  of  working  since  it  is 
altogether  against  the  human  constitution  that  no  man 
had  a  hand  in  making.  Bad  as  was  the  old  Russian  des- 
potism it  had  the  merit  of  some  little  concession  to  the 


326  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

nature  that  Almighty  God  graciously  gave  to  men 
whereas  Socialists  have  made  human  nature  and  the 
"  Socialist  State  "  all  out  of  their  own  heads. 

Democracy 

To  talk  glowingly  of  democracy  has  ever  been  a  strong 
point  in  Socialist  propaganda ;  it  has  brought  many  gen- 
erous minded  recruits  into  its  camp  there  to  stay  until 
this  once-thought-to-be-great-cause  turned  to  dust  and 
ashes  in  the  mouth ;  for  it  was  found  to  be  the  boastful 
and  bestial  opposite  of  all  their  hearts  and  minds  had 
hoped  to  find.  Quite  contrary  to  their  talk  the  spirit 
of  Socialism  is  that  of  the  first  great  rebel,  who  rather 
than  be  chief  amongst  the  angels  while  obedient  to  Al- 
mighty God,  took  his  choice  and  became  supreme-over- 
lord amongst  the  devils  in  their  rebellion  against  their 
Creator  and  Law  Giver.  This  is  the  key  to  the  secret 
that  has  baffled  many,  for  the  fact  is  that  despotism,  not 
democracy,  has  from  the  first  characterized  the  practises 
of  the  movement  within  and  now  that  it  holds  a  mighty, 
but  brief,  power  its  spirit  of  unrelenting  control  is  at- 
tested by  the  Bolsheviki  in  Russia  whose  deeds  shock 
the  world.  Such  is  the  profession  of  democracy  that 
highwaymen  might  make  while  demanding  your  money 
with  or  without  your  life,  so  you  choose. 

In  defending  "  the  first  scientific  Socialist  revolu- 
tion," and  its  overthrow  of  the  Russian  democratic  as- 
sembly that  had  dethroned  the  Czar,  Bertram  D.  Wolfe, 
a  correspondent  to  the  N.  Y.  Call  (Sep.  22,  1918),  de- 
fends  the   dictatorship   of  Lenin-Trotsky   against   the 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  327 

comment  of  one  who  is  not  so  red  as  a  Marxian  is  ex- 
pected to  be.  We  cite  Mr,  Wolfe's  approval  of  the  de- 
struction of  a  democratic  government  as  being  the  gen- 
eral opinion  of  the  Bolshevists  in  our  country, —  in  fact 
the  conviction  of  all  who  know  and  accept  Socialism  as 
it  really  is  —  a  menace  to  Christian  civilization :  "  You 
charge  that  they  have  abolished  the  Constituent  Assem- 
bly. They  have,  and  rightly.  And  if  you  were  a  scienr 
iific  Socialist  you  would  realize  the  elementary  truth 
that  the  administration  of  industry  required  it.  The 
Constituent  Assembly  was  not  elected  by  industries,  but 
by  '  districts '  or  -political  units.  It  included  bourgeois 
and  worker  alike.  But  the  task  of  Socialism  was  to 
abolish  the  bourgeois  and  abolish  the  social  system  that 
made  him  possible." 

An  article  on  The  Constituent  Assembly  and  the  Bol- 
sheviki  published  in  the  New  International  (N.  Y.  Feb. 
1918)  "a  Journal  of  Eevolutionary  Socialist  Recon- 
struction "  treats  of  this  matter  in  a  manner  that  should 
satisfy  the  doubting  Thomases  amongst  honest  folk  that 
democracy  as  a  principle  of  government  is  quite  foreign 
to  the  minds  of  these  men  who  assume  the  wide  world 
to  be  a  stamping  ground  for  their  exploits : 

"All  democracy  is  relative,  is  class  democracy.  The  revo- 
lution in  Rtissia  recognizes  no  other  class  hut  the  proletariat 
and  proletarian  peasantry.  Its  democracy  is  also  class  de- 
mocracy, with  this  vital  difference;  thai  while  bourgeois  '  de- 
mocracy '  perpetuates  class  tyranny,  proletarian  democracy 
annihilates  tyranny. 

"  The  problem  of  parliamentary  government  is  a  crucial  one 
in  the  proletarian  revolution:    Socialism   cannot  seize  the 


328  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

ready-made  machinery  of  the  State  and  use  it  for  its  purposes. 
A  new  form  of  government  must  he  organized  by  the  revolu- 
tionary proletariat^ —  as  in  Russia. 

"  Years  ago.  Earl  Marx  indicated  the  function  of  a  '  dic- 
tatorship of  the  proletariat'  in  the  Social  Revolution.  It  is 
precisely  this  dictatorship  that  is  now  making  history  in  revo- 
lutionary Russia.  The  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  refuses 
to  recognize  any  '  rights '  of  the  nonproletarian  class;  it  breaks 
completely  with  the  institutions,  ideology  and  superstitions  of 
the  bourgeois  regime;  it  u^es  dictatorial  measures,  the  dicta- 
torship of  a  class,  to  promote  and  establish  the  revolution  and 
the  new  society,  in  which  dictatorship  will  be  incompatible 
with  the  actuality  of  full  and  free  democracy." 

If  any  are  still  in  doubt  that  democracy  is  a  shackle 
upon  these  exploits  we  shall  call  upon  the  Premier  of 
Red  Russia  to  speak  for  himself :  "  The  word  democ- 
racy cannot  he  scientifically  applied  to  the  Communist 
party.  Since  March,  1917,  the  word  democracy  is  sim- 
ply a  shackle  fastened  upon  the  Revolutionary  nation 
and  preventing  it  from  establishing  boldly,  freely  and 
regardless  of  all  obstacles  a  new  form  of  power  —  the 
Council  of  the  Workmen's,  Soldiers'  and  Peasants'  Dep- 
uties —  harbinger  of  the  abolition  of  every  form  of  aU'- 
thority."  (^Nikolai  Lenin,  New  International,  l^ew 
York,  April,  1918.) 

Of  course  it  should  not  be  expected  that  language 
such  as  this  would  be  found  in  Socialist  platforms.  It 
would  have  a  chilling  effect  and  turn  away  recruits  that 
flaming  words  for  the  fruits  of  democracy  to  be  secured 
under  Socialism  Victorious  bring  into  their  line  of  battle. 
The  full  consequences  of  their  doctrines  are  given  inside 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  329 

when  the  novice  has  been  entirely  weaned  away  from 
what  had  been  dear  and  decent.  Democracy  is  indeed 
their  word  to  conjure  with !  But  the  distemper  of  their 
movement  lies  just  behind  its  political  demand  for  pro- 
portional representation.  Surely,  this  is  an  appeal  for 
the  perfection  of  democracy  as  it  is  found  in  our  own 
glorious  home  land !  Even  the  minority  shall  have  its 
rights  respected.  Ah,  yes,  so  long  as  Socialists  are  in 
the  minority  within  the  "  bourgeois  state  "  proportional 
representation  is  of  great  advantage  in  giving  them  the 
floor  of  the  state  and  federal  houses  of  government  as  a 
platform  from  which  to  make  appeals  to  the  generous 
impulse  of  the  people  —  and  our  Heavenly  Father  knows 
that  the  powerful  and  hard  hearted  make  heavy  the  lot  of 
the  poor.  But  once  sufficient  power  is  in  their  hands,  ex- 
ultingly  they  cry  out  for  a  dictatorship  all  their  own,  as 
did  John  Reed :  "  Tine  Bolsheviki  believe  in  democ- 
racy of  the  working  class  and  no  democracy  for  anybody 
else."  (Public  Meeting,  Manhattan  Lyceum,  N.  Y., 
Thurs.,  March  6,  1919.) 

Paris  Commune 

Concluding  his  introduction  to  Marx's  Civil  War  in 
France —  (N.  Y.  Labor  News  Co.  1902)  with  a  ques- 
tion that  he  answers  instanter  Frederick  Engels  places 
the  sanction  of  his  prestige  upon  the  Communards  of 
1871  —  who  at  the  time  when  the  loyal  sons  of  France 
had  just  suffered  defeat  at  the  hands  of  the  Prussians  — 
took  a  traitor's  advantage  to  inaugurate  in  Paris  a  sec- 
ond reign  of  terror :     "  Well,  gentle  sirs,  would  you  like 


330  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

to  know  how  this  dictatorship  looks?  Then  look  at  the 
Paris  Commune.  That  was  the  dictatorship  of  the  pro- 
letariat." 

But  Marx,  the  elder,  the  more  terrible  father  of  the 
Bolsheviki,  the  author  of  the  book,  adds  the  sinister 
touch  that  casts  out  all  expectation  of  learning  the  truth 
of  this  first  Socialist  experience  from  the  defenders  of 
atheism  and  anti-patriotism.     We  quote : 

"  Workingmen's  Paris,  with  its  Commune,  will  be  forever 
celebrated  as  the  glorious  harbinger  of  a  new  society.  Its 
martyrs  are  enshrined  in  the  great  heart  of  the  working 
class.  Its  exterminators  history  has  already  nailed  to  that 
eternal  pillory  from  which  all  the  prayers  of  their  priest  will 
not  avail  to  redeem  them." 

To  add  the  voice  of  a  philosopher  to  the  voices  of  these 
scientific  founders  we  present  as  substantial  interna- 
tional authority  Ernest  Belfort  Bax  in  an  excerpt  taken 
from  a  "  Short  History  of  the  Paris  Commune  "  (Lon- 
don, 190Y)  :  "  The  Commune  of  Paris  is  the  one  event 
which  the  Socialists  throughout  the  world  have  agreed 
with  single  accord  to  celebrate. —  The  Commune  is  a 
landmark  as  being  the  first  Administration  manned  by 
the  working  classes,  having  for  its  more  or  less  coTiscious 
aim  the  reorganization  of  social  conditions  —  trans- 
formation of  a  civilized  society  into  a  Socialist  society." 

Taking  this  cue  from  their  great  leaders,  socialists 
the  v^orld  over  have  ever  since  this  carnage  in  Paris 
celebrated  the  18th  of  March  as  the  harbinger  of  the 
universal  rule  of  the  proletariat.  N^ow  there  is  added 
to  this  day  of  revelry  that  of  the  Yth  of  November  the 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  331 

date  of  the  blood-red  triumph  of  Bolshevism  in  Russia. 
The  Editor  of  Truth  —  gifted  in  concealing  the  truth  — 
shall  give  with  his  lurid  pen  the  threat  of  the  world's 
future :  "  To-day  the  tables  are  turned,  it  is  now  our 
turn  to  rule.  The  fight  of  1871  hut  adds  assurance  to 
the  victory  of  the  workers  in  the  coming  years.  We 
shall  live  to  see  the  Commune  of  the  World,  the  whole 
wide,  wide  world.  All  through  the  length  and  breadth  of 
every  nation  will  ring  the  same  cry  that  rang  through 
the  streets  of  Paris,  on  that  glorious  March  morning,  in 
1871,  Vive  La  Commune!  " 

"Masters  you  murdered  us  in  Paris,  because  we  were  too 
simple  in  our  beliefs  in  your  goodness.  In  1871  we  trusted 
you,  in  1919  we  despise  you,  because  we  Jcnow  you  for  what 
you  are.  As  in  1871,  the  French  masters  allied  themselves 
with  the  Prussians,  so  in  1919  Allied  capitalists  ally  them- 
selves with  the  Scheidemanns,  so  that  they  too  might  drown 
the  workers  in  seas  of  blood.  But  the  mistakes  of  the  past, 
are  but  the  signposts  of  the  future.  What  we  lost  by  our  mis- 
takes in  1871,  we  shall  gain  by  our  Tcnowledge  of  same."  (So- 
cialist official  weekly,  March  14th,  1919,  Duluth,  Mich.) 

Their  experience  of  1871,  linked  to  that  of  1919  is 
taken  seriously  as  the  precursor  of  the  Commune  of  the 
wide  world  —  with  an  extra  wide  thrown  in  for  good 
measure  —  by  the  Revolutionary  Age  (Boston,  Mar. 
15,  1919.)  Its  full  front  page  would  make  it  certain 
that  Lenin  has  looked  to  the  Paris  Commune  as  his 
guide  in  setting  up  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat. 
But  having  Russia  on  the  hip  he  has  surely  bettered 
the  instruction  of  1871.     We  quote :     "  The  Paris  Com- 


332  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

mune  was  the  most  natural  expression  of  the  proletarian 
revolution  up  to  that  time. 

"  The  contribution  of  the  Commune  to  revolutionary  theory 
and  tactics  consisted  in  developing  a  new  type  of  state,  by 
means  of  which  the  proletariat  could  accomplish  its  emanci- 
pation. The  Commune  annihilated  the  machinery  of  the 
old  state  —  its  army,  its  police  and  its  bureaucracy,  indepen- 
dent of  and  imposed  upon  the  masses,  the  instruments  of  re- 
pression used  by  the  state  to  coerce  the  working  class;  and 
the  Commune,  moreover,  abolished  legislative  and  executive 
functions  as  separate  functions,  these  being  united  demo- 
cratically in  the  Commune.  The  Paris  Commune  demon- 
strated in  actual  practise  that  the  first  task  of  the  militant 
proletariat  is  the  conquest  of  power  by  the  revolutionary  pro- 
letariat —  the  annihilation  of  the  old  bourgeois  state  and  the 
construction  of  a  new  proletarian  state.  On  this  head,  N. 
Lenin  wrote  in  April,  1917:  'As  to  the  revolutionary  or- 
ganization and  its  tasJc,  the  conquest  of  the  power  of  the  state 
and  militarism:  From  the  experience  of  the  Paris  Commune, 
Marx  shows  thai  '  the  working  class  cannot  simply  lay  hold  of 
the  ready-made  machinery  of  the  state  and  wield  it  for  its  pur- 
poses. The  proletariat  must  hreah  down  this  machinery. 
We  claim  we  do  not  need  the  bourgeois  state  machinery  as 
completed  in  the  democratic  bourgeois  republic,  but  the  direct 
power  of  armed  and  organized  workers.  Such  is  the  state  we 
need.  Such  was  the  character  of  the  Commune  of  1871  and 
of  the  Soviets  of  Workmen  and  Soldiers  of  1905  and  1917. 
On  this  basis  we  build.'  The  new  proletarian  state  of  the 
Paris  Commune  functioned  as  a  revolutionary  dictatorship  of 
the  proletariat,  precisely  as  in  Soviet  Kussia  in  1917-1919." 

Precisely,  while  the  Paris  Commune  lasted,  it  was 
about  two  months,  after  the  red  flag  was  flung  to  the 
breeze  from  Hotel  de  Ville,  it  did  register  upon  the  an- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  333 

nals  of  Socialist  history  the  same  quality  of  fury  that 
is  now  wreaking  its  vengeance  upon  the  poor,  starved 
and  beaten  people  of  Russia.  In  these  days  of  1871 
while  the  mob  infuriated  by  the  atheistic  spirit,  pil- 
laged and  desecrated  the  churches,  the  irresponsible 
holders  of  the  government's  power  confiscated  land  and 
capital,  repudiated  debts,  abolished  rents,  equalized  pay 
for  work,  suppressed  all  newspapers  that  did  not  sup- 
port the  cause  of  revolution,  declared  against  religious 
education  and  destroyed  priceless  works  of  art.  At  least 
one  hundred  thousand  lives  were  sacrificed  to  this  unholy 
passion  for  a  scheme  of  society  that  is  against  the  dic- 
tates of  reason  and  the  love  of  God ;  the  property  damage 
was  estimated  at  $110,000,000. 

That  atheistic-materialism  is  the  basis  upon  which 
this  event,  that  is  "  enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  Social- 
ists," rests  may  be  clearly  seen  we  present  two  incidents. 
Having  before  him  Abbe  Deguerry,  as  an  offender 
against  the  Marxian  regime,  the  Judge  of  the  Council  of 
Discipline  wanted  to  know  what  work  he  and  his  fellow- 
priests  did  ?  "  We  teach  the  religion  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ/'  The  Judge  replied  — "  There  are  no  Lords. 
We  do  not  Jcnow  any  Lords/'  To  the  Judge  catechizing 
the  Archbishop  of  Paris  in  the  same  manner,  Monsi- 
gneur  Georges  Darboy  answered :  ''  I  am  a  servant  of 
God"  "  Where  does  he  live?"  asked  the  Judge.  The 
Archbishop  gave  answer :  '^  Everywhere/'  Then  came 
the  blasphemous  order  from  the  Court :  "  Send  this 
man  to  the  Conciergerie,  and  issue  a  tvarrant  for  the 
arrest  of  his  Master,  one  called  God,  ivho  has  no  perm^- 


334  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

nent  residence^  and  is,  consequently  contrary  to  law,  liv- 
ing in  a  perpetual  state  of  vagahoTidage." 

Both  these  priests  paid  the  supreme  sacrifice  for  Christ 
and  Him  crucified  in  the  reign  of  the  Revolution  of 
1871.  Together  with  a  number  of  priests  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Paris  stood  against  a  wall  facing  at  close  range 
twenty  of  the  Red  Guards  — -  who  were  enlisted  for  the 
purpose  of  killing  at  the  command  of  the  first  "  class 
conscious  "  Socialist  dictator  of  the  proletariat.  The 
venerable  Archbishop  Darboy  raised  his  hand  in  bene- 
diction while  all  the  priests  were  praying.  "  Thai's 
your  benediction,  is  it?  "  cried  out  one  of  the  gunmen  — 
"  Now  tahe  mine,"  and  with  his  taunt  he  gave  the  order 
for  bullets  to  be  sent  through  the  body  of  the  beloved 
Archbishop  and  his  priests.  Our  then  American  Min- 
ister to  Paris  said  of  His  Grace :  "  He  was  one  of  the 
most  charming  and  agreeable  of  men  and  was  beloved 
alike  by  rich  and  poor.  He  had  spent  his  whole  life  in 
acts  of  charity  and  benevolence." 

The  answer  to  the  questions  of  the  pure-minded  Ab- 
bie  Deguerry  — "  What  have  they  to  gain  by  hilling  v^f 
What  harm  have  we  done  to  them  f  "  will  reveal  the 
whole  story,  for  these  moral  issues  search  to  the  inner- 
most motive  of  the  Bolshevist  movement.  Those  who 
are  persuaded  of  the  mere  materialist  origin  of  the  race 
can  have  no  possible  use,  in  reason,  for  a  priest,  ^o 
useful  work  whatsoever  could  a  priest  find  to  do  amongst 
a  non-moral  herd,  never  so  much  higher  than  the  com- 
mon beasts  of  the  field.  If  they  are  to  carry  out  their 
cult  of  atheistic  materialism  into  practise  the  knowledge 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  335 

of  and  the  love  of  God  must  be  wiped  out  of  the  mind 
and  the  heart  of  the  people.  This  is  what  they  will 
gain  by  killing  priests  and  destroying  the  Church  of 
Christ,  in  their  diseased  imagination.  Given  the  dis- 
torted view  of  life  that  morality  is  and  ever  has  been 
non-existent  together  with  the  possession  of  all  capital 
extant  and  the  power  of  the  Red  Guard  to  dictate  the 
industrial  life  of  the  proletariat,  the  harm  that  priests 
can  do  is  to  spend  the  substance  that  is  produced  in  the 
support  of  religious  worship  and  to  feed,  clothe  and 
shelter  themselves,  since  no  return  whatsoever  comes  to 
the  commonalty.  Moreover,  neither  suicide  nor  mur- 
der is  objectionable.  The  unborn,  the  infirm,  the  lame, 
the  halt  and  the  blind  may,  without  compunction,  be  put 
out  of  the  path  trod  by  the  super-man.  It  is  said  in  a 
thousand  variants  —  God  is  a  vagabond  and  His  minis- 
ters shall  not  eat  up  the  wealth  of  a  proletarian  regime. 
Out  with  God ;  out  with  religion,  out  with  priests. 

As  it  was  in  1871  so  it  is  in  1919  that  the  slaughter  of 
priests  is  defended,  the  one  word  "  hoarding "  is  now 
sufficient  to  make  their  murder  commendable.  We 
quote  the  matter  as  it  appeared  in  America's  leading 
Socialist  daily  —  New  York  Call  (Apr.  3,  1919). 

"Pope  and  Lenin  Exchange  Wires 

"His   Holiness   Protests  Killing  Priests  —  Were  Hoarding 
Food,  Was  Reply. 

"  Rome,  April  2. —  The  Osservatore  Romano  to-day  pub- 
lished an  interchange  of  correspondence  between  Pope  Bene- 
dict and  the  Bolsheviki  regarding  alleged  persecution  of  the 
Catholic  clergy  in  Russia. 


336  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

Archbishop  Silvestre  of  Omsk  appealed  to  the  Pope  to  issue 
an  official  protest,  stating  that  20  bishops  and  hundreds  of 
priests  had  been  murdered  and  mutilated,  and  a  number  of 
churches  destroyed. 

The  Pope  sent  a  wireless  to  Premier  Lenin,  imploring  him, 
in  the  name  of  humanity,  to  stop  these  excesses.  Foreign 
Minister  Tchitcherin  replied  that  all  Russians  are  equal  and 
accused  the  priests  of  hoarding  food. 

If  our  strictures  anent  the  first  dictatorship  of  the 
proletariat  seem  too  severe  it  is  certain  that  the  well 
known  opinion  of  Giuseppe  Mazinni,  an  associate  of 
Garibaldi,  an  eye-witness  of  the  commune  of  Paris,  an 
implacable  enemy  of  the  Catholic  Church,  cannot  be 
prejudiced  in  our  favor  when  speaking  of  bloody  week 
of  1871. 

"A  people  was  wallowing  about  as  if  drunk,  raging  against 
itself  and  lacerating  its  limhs  with  its  teeth,  while  howling 
triumphant  cries,  dancing  an  infernal  dance  before  the  grave 
which  it  had  dug  with  its  own  hands,  killing,  torturing,  burn- 
ing, and  committing  crimes  without  sense,  aim  or  hope.  It 
reminded  us  of  the  most  horrid  visions  of  Dante's  Hell." 

In  spite  of  the  historic  facts  in  the  case  of  1871  and 
in  face  of  the  scandalous  events  of  1917  only  here  and 
there  one  of  the  leading  Socialists  of  our  country  have 
recoiled  from  the  logical  application  of  their  doctrine 
as  seen  in  the  Lenin  dictatorship  of  Russia.  The  vast 
number  of  these  "  gentle  sirs  "  have  looked  at  the  Paris 
Commune  and  that  glimpse  has  satisfied  them  that  the 
proletarian  dictatorship  is  just  what  is  wanted  to  dis- 
rupt  Christian  civilization.     Surely  they   are  correct 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  337 

since  a  more  powerful  solvent  has  not  been  found  for  jus- 
tice, equity,  decency  and  morality. 

Soviets 
Premier  Lenin  called  into  practise  "  the  brief,  sharp, 
exact-formula  "  of  Marx  and  it  worked  like  a  charm  in 
realizing  "  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat  and  the 
semi-proletariat  without  which  Socialism  is  not  to  he 
thought  of."  In  Russia  the  political  state  —  the  class 
state  is  abolished  and  the  classless  society  set  up.  This, 
the  first  industrial  state,  is  made  up  of  but  one  class, 
namely,  the  "  urban  and  rural  proletariat  and  the  poor- 
est peasants,"  organized  into  local  and  provincial  Soviets 
and  federated  in  the  All  Russian  Congress.  We  quote 
from  the  constitution  of  Russia  adopted  ^N^ovember  8, 
1917. 

"  The  fundamental  problem  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Republic  involves,  in 
view  of  the  present  transition  period,  the  establishment  of  a 
dictatorship  of  the  urban  and  rural  proletariat  and  the  poor- 
est peasantry  in  the  form  of  a  powerful  All-Russian  Soviet 
authority,  for  the  purpose  of  the  crushing  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
abolishing  the  exploitation  of  men  by  men  and  of  introducing 
Socialism  in  which  there  will  be  neither  a  division  into 
classes  nor  a  state  authority. 

"  The  Russian  Republic  is  a  free  Socialist  Society  of  all 
the  working  people  of  Russia.  The  entire  power,  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Re- 
public, belongs  to  all  the  working  i)eople  of  Russia,  united 
in  urban  and  rural  Soviets." 

So  it  is  that  with  soviets-councils  made  up  of  repre- 
sentatives from  the  various  factories  and  crafts,  poorest 


338  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

peasants  and  the  soldiers  and  sailors  —  very  like  the  cen- 
tral labor  bodies  of  our  trade  unions,  rather  than  repre- 
sentatives from  the  several  geographical  divisions  of 
cities  as  with  our  political  government  —  that  "  a  gov- 
ernment of  things,"  as  Engels  termed  it,  is  alleged  to  be 
under  way  with  its  industrial  army  under  the  command 
of  a  dictator. 

Ah,  yes,  this  is  the  "  free  society  " —  in  speech,  but 
in  fact  a  more  complete  enslavement  of  men  than  history 
records. 

Upon  being  asked  — "  How  is  a  Soviet  formed  ?  "  Al- 
bert Rhys  Williams  —  acknowledged  representative  of 
the  Russian  Bolsheviki  official  propaganda  —  made  an- 
swer: 

"Instead  of  electing  men  at  the  polls,  they  are  elected  in 
the  shops  and  unions.  For  example,  every  500  workers  in  a 
munition  factory  select  a  delegate.  The  shoe  factory  elects 
a  delegate,  as  do  the  clothing  shops,  the  brick  yards,  glass 
works,  and  all  the  other  industries  which  happen  to  be  in  that 
city.  The  different  unions  do  likewise.  The  regiments  of 
soldiers  and  the  sailors  also  elect  their  delegates ;  likewise  the 
teachers,  the  clerks,  and  the  engineers  who  are  organized." 
("  The  Bolsheviks  and  the  Soviets.") 

These  local  Soviets  elect  delegates  to  Provincial  So- 
viets and  thus  indirectly  to  the  All-Russian  Congress 
of  Soviets  which  meets  twice  a  year.  From  this  central 
body  is  elected  an  Executive  Committee  of  200  to  ad- 
minister the  affairs  of  the  Socialist  Federated  Soviet 
Republic.  The  most  important  of  the  specific  depart- 
ments made  up  from  the  Executive  Committee  of  two 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  339 

hundred  is  the  Council  of  the  People's  Commissaires. 

The  basis  of  representation  to  the  All-Russian  Con- 
gress is  so  laid  down  that  the  vote  of  a  Red  Guard  is 
equal  to  eight  votes  of  the  city  proletarians;  while  the 
power  of  one  of  these  city  votes  is  equal  to  five  of  the 
poor  peasants  in  the  rural  districts.  Thus  it  may  be 
seen  that  the  Red  Guard  and  the  city  proletariat  may 
easily  dominate  the  "  first  Socialist  Republic  of  the 
World." 

Moreover  the  privilege  of  voting  is  given  only  to  those 
who  make  a  living  by  "  labor  that  is  productive  and 
useful  to  society."  Adhering  strictly  to  the  preverse 
opinion  that  the  individual  is  without  a  soul,  the  animal 
origin  of  humanity  is  enforced  by  denying  that  Priests 
are  useful  to  society,  also  that  religious  instruction  is 
work,  all  ministers  of  God,  monks  and  nuns,  all  religious 
educators  and  all  persons  who  in  whatsoever  capacity 
assist  in  this  most  useful  of  all  services  given  to  mankind 
are  listed  together  with  the  demented  and  mentally  de- 
ficient who  are  in  fact  disqualified  to  perform  the  tasks 
of  citizenship.  Their  constitution  will  show  that  the 
proletarians  and  the  poorest  peasantry  are  considered 
useful  to  a  Socialist  society.  We  quote  from  their  Con- 
stitution adopted  iNTovember  8,  1917: 

Section  First:    Concerning  the  Suffrage 

I.  The  right  to  vote  and  to  be  elected  to  the  Soviets  is  en- 
joyed by  the  following  citizens  of  the  Russian  Socialistic 
Soviet  Republic  of  both  sexes  who  shall  have  completed  their 
eighteenth  year  by  the  day  of  the  election : 

1.  All  who  have  acquired  the  means  of  living  through  la- 


340  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

bor  that  is  productive  and  useful  to  society  and  are  members 
of  the  trades  associations,  namely: 

(a)  Laborers  and  employees  of  all  classes  who  are  em- 
ployed in  industry,  trade  and  agriculture. 

(b)  Peasants  and  Cossack  agricultural  laborers  who  hire 
no  labor. 

(c)  Employees  and  laborers  in  the  offices  of  the  Soviet 
government. 

2.  Soldiers  of  the  army  and  navy  of  the  Soviets. 

3.  Citizens  of  the  two  previous  categories  who  have  to  any 
degree  lost  their  capacity  to  work. 

II.  Tile  following  persons  enjoy  neither  the  right  to  vote 
nor  to  he  voted  for,  even  though  they  helong  to  one  of  the 
categories  enumerated  aiove,  namely: 

(1)  Persons  who  employ  hired  labor  in  order  to  obtain  from 
it  an  increase  in  profits. 

(2)  Persons  who  have  an  income  without  doing  any  work, 
such  as  interest  from  capital,  receipts  from  property,  and 
so  on. 

(3)  Private  merchants,  trade  and  commercial  intermediar- 
ies. 

(4)  Employees  of  communities  for  religious  worship. 
(Also  Monk  and  Clergy  of  all  denominations.) 

(5)  Employees  and  agents  of  the  former  police,  the  gen- 
darmerie corps  and  the  Okhrana ;  also  members  of  the  dynasty 
that  formerly  ruled  in  Eussia. 

(6)  Persons  who  have  in  legal  form  been  declared  de- 
mented or  mentally  deficient,  and  also  deaf  and  dumb  per- 
sons. 

(7)  Persons  who  have  been  punished  for  selfish  or  dishonor- 
able misdemeanors. 

Of  course,  with  God  out  of  reckoning,  sins  are  no 
longer  possible  of  commission,  but  somehow  the  faults 
that  are  left  over  from  the  time  each  man  -had  an  in- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  341 

dividual  soul  are  even  now  quite  sufficient  to  deprive 
men  of  their  vote.  On  this  point  their  "  new  "  society 
is  both  state  and  church  with  a  vengeance.  At  any  rate 
"  selfish  and  dishonorable  "  conduct  is  bad  enough  to 
call  out  a  Ukas,  now  and  again,  which  enables  Lenin- 
Trotsky  still  further  to  centralize  this  "  free  "  society 
into  their  own  hands.  Not  alone  have  the  bourgeoisie 
been  completely  disfranchised  but  those  Socialists  of  the 
parlor  variety  have  lost  their  rights.  When  in  June, 
1918,  the  Mensheviki  gained  control  of  several  local 
Soviets  (thus  in  fact  becoming  the  Bolsheviki)  and  sent 
delegates  to  the  All-Russian  Congress,  these  delegates 
were  peremptorily  thrown  out  of  the  government  and 
the  locals  electing  them  were  dissolved  on  the  26th  day 
of  July. 

An  Englishman  —  Mr.  H.  V.  Keeling  —  who  had 
lived  some  five  years  in  Russia  —  gives  the  method  by 
which  this  "  one-class  "  society  came  into  being.  Mr. 
Keeling,  because  of  his  lithographic  work,  was  admitted 
to  the  Russian  Printing  Trade  Union  and  remained 
for  sixteen  months  under  Russian  rules.  He  explains 
that  the  population  was  divided  into  four  categories: 
First  —  the  manual  workers ;  second  —  the  self-em- 
ployed clerical  workers ;  third  —  those  who  hire  any- 
body from  house  servants  to  factory  workers ;  fourth  — 
the  idle  rich,  princes,  aristocrats,  courtiers  and  the  like. 
The  working  out  of  this  subdivision  of  the  Russian 
people  is  also  commented  on : 

"  The  penalty  for  failing  to  please  the  Bolsheviki  is  to  be 
degraded  from  the  class  in  which  you  get  some  food  to  the 


342  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

class  in  which  you  get  scarcely  any.  In  the  last  few  months 
there  has  not  been  anything  like  enough  for  the  first  class 
and  scarcely  anything  for  the  others.  Class  IV,  the  former 
rich,  I  should  say,  has  disappeared. 

"  If  you  are  not  in  the  first  class  or  are  degraded  from  it 
you  have  to  prowl  about  and  try  to  get  food  secretly ;  but  this 
is  a  punishable  offense,  for  which  sometimes  people  may  even 
be  shot.  People  go  to  the  country,  taking  anything  they 
think  the  peasants  will  take  in  exchange  for  food  and  get  a 
bag  of  flour  or  a  few  potatoes.  But  it  is  illegal  to  go  out  of 
town  without  a  permit  or  to  buy  anything  when  you  get  there, 
so  the  Red  Guards  stop  them  and  search  them  as  they  come 
back,  and  if  they  find  anything  confiscate  it  and  often  arrest 
the  people  and  carry  them  off. 

"  I  saw  a  woman  who  had  gone  to  the  country  and  got 
thirty  pounds  of  flour  from  her  own  native  place  for  her  chil- 
dren, who  were  starving.  She  was  seized  by  the  Guards  at 
the  station  when  she  was  trying  to  get  back,  and  they  took 
it  from  her,  although  she  fell  on  her  knees  and  implored 
them  with  sobs  to  let  her  keep  only  a  few  pounds. 

"  Then  when  she  found  it  was  no  use  she  threw  herself 
under  a  train  and  was  killed." 

The  Russian  statistics  of  1917  give  the  information 
that  771  out  of  every  1,000  of  the  population  are 
peasants  while  only  10-7  out  of  the  thousand  population 
are  city  residents.  On  this  basis,  since  the  city  folk 
are  kept  in  power  by  the  vote,  it  is  certain  that  the 
franchise  is  manipulated  in  favor  of  the  minority. 
Upon  being  charged  with  this  injustice  it  was  coolly 
confessed  and  defended  by  Lenin  in  the  New  Inter- 
national (April,  1918)  : 

"Just  as  150,000  lordly  landowners  under  Czarism  domi- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  343 

nated  the  130,000,000  of  Russian  peasants,  so  200,000  mem- 
bers of  the  Bolshevik  Party  are  imposing  their  proletarian 
will  on  the  mass,  but  this  time  in  the  interest  of  the  latter." 

Granting  that  a  benevolent  despotism  is  in  the  interest 
of  a  people  ascending  the  ladder  of  self-government  to 
the  height  of  civilization,  it  is  certain  that  the  honest 
despots  would  not  rest  their  claim  to  the  seat  of  power 
upon  a  world  propaganda  that  has  for  sixty  years  been 
demanding  industrial  democracy  upon  the  basis  of  uni- 
versal and  equal  suffrage. 

EXPROPRIATTNG    THE   EXPROPRIATORS 

At  last  unsound  words  have  been  put  into  violent 
deeds,  for  the  revolution  in  Eussia  having  expropriated 
the  political  bourgeoisie  took  the  long-talked-of  step,  ex- 
propriated from  the  owners  of  private  property  all  their 
land  and  capital  on  the  assumption  that  the  land  natur- 
ally belongs  to  the  government  and  that  all  capital  in 
private  hands  has  been  taken  in  the  form  of  "  surplus 
value  "  from  the  proletariat,  bit  by  bit  in  the  past. 

Since  the  deed  is  done  it  may  be  interesting  to  know 
how  it  was  done. 

During  the  academic  stages  of  Bolshevism  the  ques- 
tion of  the  confiscation  of  capital  and  the  remuneration 
for  capital  has  been  a  prolific  occasion  for  discussion, 
scientific  and  sentimental,  in  their  press  and  on  their 
platform.  But  when  the  power  for  action  came  into 
Bolsheviki  hands  the  die  was  cast  and  confiscation 
became  the  law.     For  its  authoritv  this  act  rests  se- 


344  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

curely  upon  the  Communist  Manifest  which  calls  for 
the  "  abolition  of  property  in  land."  In  our  country 
where  the  farming  class  is  the  largest  amongst  the 
manual  workers  and  where  vote  getting  has  been  con- 
sidered the  high  road  to  the  revolution  much  discussion 
pro  and  con  has  taken  place  as  to  the  expediency  of 
stating  the  land  plank  in  their  platform  in  true  Marxian 
fashion  or  to  assure  the  farmers,  who  do  not  exploit 
laborers,  that  they  may  keep  their  land.  Surely,  com- 
promise on  this  false  principle  is  a  better  vote  getter, 
but  since  personal  vanity  delights  in  the  daring  of  no 
compromise  it  is  hard  to  get  a  decision  and  as  hard  to 
stick  to  it.  Yet,  the  spectacular  no  compromise  of  the 
Socialist  has  done  much  to  discredit  rightful  tactics 
with  wage  earners.  Between  our  two  dominant  parties 
there  is  no  difference  as  to  the  underlying  principles 
upon  which  our  nation  is  based;  no  dispute  about 
natural  rights  coming  from  God;  nor  about  this  being 
a  government  of  laws  not  of  men ;  neither  about  private 
property  being  a  right  inherent  in  the  constitution  of  the 
human  race.  Consequently  these  two  parties  are  in  op- 
position only  as  to  methods  that  shall  best  safeguard 
individual  rights  and  opportunities  and  secure  the  well- 
being  and  perfection  of  the  body  politic. 

Compromise,  therefore,  is  essential  to  getting  things 
done  harmoniously  with  the  result  of  keeping  either 
group  from  going  to  extremes.  But  braggadocio  is 
much  more  to  the  liking  of  those  who  deal  with  false 
principles.  When  Lincoln  Steffens  interviewed  his 
friend  Debs  for  Everyhody's  Magazine  as  to  how  Social- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  345 

ists  were  to  get  possession  of  the  trusts  —  Debs  replied : 
"  Take  them."  In  his  display  editorial  in  the  Appeal 
to  Reason  Fred  Warren  tells  What  I  Believe: 

"I  believe  in  the  confiscation  of  the  productive  property 
of  this  nation  by  the  working  class.  I  do  not  believe  in  con- 
fiscating it  by  piecemeal.  That  would  be  foolish  and  illegal. 
The  plan  I  favor  is  that  the  working  class  shall  first  capture 
the  political  powers  of  the  state  and  nation  and  then  the  job 
can  be  done  without  the  danger  of  getting  cracked  skulls  and 
prison  sentences." 

The  Educational  Director  of  the  Eand  School  —  Al- 
gernon Lee  —  is  as  emphatically  Marxian  if  not  so 
picturesque : 

"  Confiscation  presents  itself  as  the  simplest  and  most  di- 
rect method.  There  is  no  reason  why  Socialists  should  be 
squeamish  about  mentioning  confiscation  as  a  historic  i)Os- 
sibility." 

The  issue  is  squarely  met  by  the  New  York  Call 
(Nov.  2,  1915)  under  the  editorial  caption:  That 
Blessed  Word,  Confiscation:  "  Do  we  Socialists  helieve 
in  confiscation  of  private  property  f  Most  certainly  we 
do." 

Indeed,  no  one  of  international  distinction  has  ever 
denied  the  belief  in  what  is  now  a  consummated  business 
of  plunder  in  Bolshevik  Eussia,  the  Decree  on  Con- 
fiscation and  Nationalization  of  Land,  adopted  by  the 
All-Russian  Congress  of  Soviets  (Nov.  8,  1917)  leaves 
the  nation  without  justice  and  the  family  without  in- 
heritance : 


346  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  The  right  of  private  ownership  in  land  is  abolished  for- 
ever; land  can  neither  be  sold,  nor  bought,  nor  leased,  nor 
mortgaged,  nor  appropriated  in  any  other  way.  The  whole  of 
the  land  of  the  State,  of  the  appanages,  of  the  Crown,  of  the 
monasteries,  of  the  churches,  as  well  as  majorats,  lands  in  con- 
ditional possession,  or  endowed  to  persons,  or  concerns,  pri- 
vately owned  land  and  land  belonging  to  public  bodies,  and  to 
peasants,  and  so  on,  is  herewith  expropriated,  without  any 
compensation  whatever,  and  it  becomes  the  property  of  the 
whole  people  and  is  transferred  for  use  to  all  who  till  it. 

"  Those  who  have  suffered  from  this  expropriation  are 
entitled  to  public  relief,  but  only  for  the  time  which  may  be 
necessary  to  allow  them  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  con- 
ditions of  existence. 

"  The  landlord's  property  in  all  land  is  herewith  abolished 
without  compensation. 

"  The  estates  of  the  landlords,  as  well  as  the  appanage  lands 
and  lands  belonging  to  the  monasteries,  churches,  with  all 
their  live  and  dead  inventories,  manor  buildings,  and  imple- 
ments, pass  into  the  control  of  rural  Land  Committees  and 
District  Councils  of  Peasants'  Delegates,  until  the  Constitu- 
ent Assembly. 

"  Any  damage  wilfully  caused  to  the  confiscated  property, 
belonging  from  now  on  to  the  whole  people,  constitutes  a  grave 
crime,  punishable  by  the  Eevolutionary  Tribunals.  The  Dis- 
trict Councils  of  Peasants'  Delegates  are  to  take  all  the  mea- 
sures required  for  the  preservation  of  strict  order  while  carry- 
ing out  the  confiscation  of  the  estates  of  the  landlords,  for 
recording  the  size  of  the  estates  to  be  confiscated,  for  pre- 
paring a  detailed  specification  of  the  whole  confiscated  prop- 
erty, and  for  the  most  stringent  revolutionary  protection  of 
all  the  agricultural  estates  passing  now  into  the  hands  of 
the  people,  with  all  the  buildings,  machinery,  cattle,  stores, 
etc.,  appertaining  to  them. 

"  All  Russian  citizens,  irrespective  of  sex,  willing  to  till 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  347 

the  soil  with  their  own  labor,  or  with  the  assistance  of  their 
families,  or  in  company  with  other  peasants,  are  entitled  to 
receive  land  for  use,  and  for  the  duration  of  time  they  are 
able  to  till  it.     No  hired  labor  is  allowed." 

Having  nationalized  the  land,  provision  for  its  use 
was  made  by  an  "  equal "  distribution  amongst  the 
tillers ;  the  standard  share  being  a  plot  that  one  man  is 
capable  of  working  with  his  own  labor  with  many  com- 
plicated modifications  easy  enough  to  work  out  on 
paper.  Within  the  confines  of  the  cities  all  real  estate 
is  confiscated  by  the  very  simple  process  of  the  collection 
of  rent  by  the  governmental  agents.  Even  before  this 
book  goes  to  press  we  may  expect  tyranny,  incompetency 
and  dishonesty  to  have  brought  down  this  wordy  struc- 
ture like  a  castle  built  with  cards  at  the  pufiF  of  the 
wind ;  for  a  very  genius  at  destruction  is  at  work  upon 
a  hapless  society  that  had  long  been  under  the  rule  of 
a  man-made  worship.  Truly  God  is  a  jealous  God  — 
"  Thou  shalt  have  no  gods  before  Me."  A  department 
was  established  to  take  possession  of  private  property 
in  the  name  of  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet 
Republic.  This  "  Supreme  Council  of  National 
Economy  "  is  granted  complete  control  over  production, 
distribution  and  finance ;  it  may  confiscate,  requisition, 
sequestrate  and  syndicate  private  industries  without 
redress  by  the  owners.  This  ruthless  effort  to  "  ex- 
propriate the  expropriators  "  found  its  greatest  difficulty 
with  nationalizing  the  banks.  But  since  a  proletarian 
revolution  is  bound  to  rid  the  world  of  the  bourgeoisie, 
Lenin  proceeded  to  dispose  of  the  Safe  deposit  boxes: 


348  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

"All  monies  kept  in  safe  deposit  boxes  of  banks  must  be 
paid  into  the  current  account  of  the  holders  in  the  National 
Bank.  Gold  Note:  Gold,  in  money  and  ingots,  will  be 
confiscated  and  added  to  the  gold  fund  of  the  entire  nation." 

"Boxes  belonging  to  persons  (who  oppose  the  auditing  of 
them  after  being  summoned)  are  subject  to  opening  by  the 
investigating  commissions,  appointed  by  the  commissioners 
of  the  National  Bank,  and  all  the  holdings  found  in  them 
will  be  confiscated  by  the  National  Bank  as  the  property  of 
the  people." 

National  Debts  Repudiated: 

"  All  state  debts  contracted  by  the  regime  of  the  Russian 
land  owners  and  Russian  bourgeoisie,  enumerated  in  a  docu- 
ment relating  to  this  matter,  are  annulled  as  of  December 
1,  1917.  December  coupons  of  the  loans  mentioned  are  not 
liable  to  payment. 

"In  like  manner  are  annulled  all  guarantees  given  by  the 
officials  of  the  old  regime  concerning  debts  of  various  enter- 
prises and  institutions." 

"  All  foreign  debts  are  repudiated  absolutely  and  without 
exceptions." 

"  Short  term  bond  and  state  treasury  series  remain  intact. 
Interest  on  them  will  not  be  paid;  but  obligations  to  them 
shall  be  binding  in  the  same  way  as  credit  notes." 

"  Small  propertied  (poor)  citizens  possessing  repudiated 
state  notes  of  internal  loans  which  are  not  in  excess  of 
10,000  rubles  (nominal  worth)  will  receive  annually,  from 
the  state,  compensation  equal  to  the  interest  on  their  notes. 
[The  U.  S.  Treasury  value  of  a  ruble  (1918)  equals  twelve 
cents  in  gold.  Thus  the  value  of  10,000  rubles  equals  $1,- 
200.] 

"  Citizens  possessing  repudiated  notes  in  excess  of  10,000 
rubles  will  receive  no  compensation  for  the  repudiation  of 
their  papers." 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  349 

"Dejwsits  in  state  savings  banks  and  interest  on  them  are 
inviolable.  All  obligations  on  repudiated  debts  belonging  to 
savings  banks  are  convertible  into  debts  (obligations)  of  the 
Russian  Workers  and  Peasants  Republic." 

"  Cooperative  societies,  local  self-governing  and  other 
benefit  or  democratic  institutions  which  have  holdings  in 
repudiated  debts  will  continue  to  be  indemnified,  in  accord- 
ance with  the  rules  worked  out  by  the  Supreme  Council  of 
National  Economy,  together  with  the  representatives  of 
such  institutions,  provided  it  is  proven  that  these  obligations 
were  acquired  prior  to  the  publication  of  this  decree." 

"All  the  work  of  liquidating  these  (State)  loans  is  en- 
trusted to  the  commissioners  of  the  National  Bank,  and  all 
holdings  found  in  them  will  be  confiscated  by  the  National 
Bank  as  the  property  of  the  people.  Note:  The  investigat- 
ing commissions  may,  for  weighty  reasons,  postpone  the 
above  liquidation." 

Industry  and  Commerce: 

Industrial  establishments  having  been  confiscated 
they  are  turned  over  to  the  workers  who  fix  the  hours, 
wages  and  otherwise  regulate  conditions  of  labor.  The 
workers  set  the  price  upon  their  commodities,  thus  con- 
trolling the  commercial  relations  of  the  people.  It  is 
a  matter  of  common  record  that  the  former  owners  are 
compelled  to  act  as  directors  of  their  sometime  industrial 
plants,  otherwise  men  capable  of  performing  this  work 
are  not  to  be  found.  Here  also,  endless  detail  is  set 
down  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  this  classless 
society.  As  an  instance  of  the  treatment  meted  out 
to  foreign  owners  of  capital  we  quote  this  decree  of  the 
Russian  Socialist  Republic  which  introduces  the  com- 
plete industrial  slavery  of  all  classes  of  workmen  in  the 


350  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUHE 

Russo  Belgian  Metallurgical  Company  that  had  refused 
to  subject  themselves  to  the  socialization  of  their  capital 
under  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat. 

"  The  shafts,  works,  mines,  all  living  and  immovable  prop- 
erty, on  the  lands  of  the  Petrovky  Metallurgical  Works,  the 
mines  at  Sofisk,  Vyerovsk,  Bungovsk,  Narnevsk,  also  in 
Petrograd,  as  well  as  all  other  property  of  whatsoever  de- 
scription, regardless  of  its  nature  and  present  location  in 
Russia  or  abroad,  belonging  to  the  Russo-Belgian  Metal- 
lurgical Company,  shall  be  confiscated,  and  declared  the 
property  of  the  Russian  Republic. 

"  All  office  and  technical  assistants  are  obliged  to  remain 
at  work  for  the  discharge  of  their  customary  obligations. 

"  For  irresponsible  desertion  from  their  positions  or  for 
sabotage,  the  guilty  parties  will  be  handed  over  to  the  revolu- 
tionary tribunals." 

Foreign  Trade: 

"  No  private  citizen  of  Russia  is  permitted  to  engage  in 
foreign  trade,  since  it  is  nationalized  for  the  benefit  of  one 
class  —  the  proletarians.  *  The  purchase  and  sale  of  products 
(raw  materials,  manufactures,  agriculture,  etc.)  with  foreign 
countries  and  private  foreign  commercial  organizations  are 
controlled  directly  by  the  Russian  republic  through  specially 
organized  organs.  All  foreign  transactions  not  known  to 
these  organs  are  prohibited.' " 

The  Socialist  world  rejoices  for  the  scheme  labori- 
ously worked  out  in  the  "  Bible  of  the  Working  Class  " 
which  blasphemes  Almighty  God,  cultivates  treason  and 
counsels  robbery  to  the  limit,  is  by  the  Russian  dictator- 
ship under  Lenin-Trotsky  put  into  practise  by  depriving 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  351 

men  of  the  exercise  of  their  religious  rights,  by  denying 
all  but  those  at  the  lowest  rung  of  the  industrial  and 
commercial  ladder  of  their  political  franchise  and  by 
the  wholesale  confiscation  of  land  and  capital.  No, 
certainly  it  was  not  by  natural  evolution  but  by  forceful 
and  bloody  revolution  that  the  change  was  brought 
about.  But  since  their  entire  propaganda  has  ever  been 
contradictory  there  is  no  possibility  of  holding  them  to 
their  pronouncements,  for  if  one  will  not  work  some 
other  will.  Marx  had  said  so  long  ago  as  1867  —  in 
Capital  —  that  the  confiscation  —  the  expropriation  — 
of  capital  would  come  about  like  a  law  of  nature.  He 
foretold  that  an  ever-growing  oppression,  slavery,  mis- 
ery, and  degradation  would  be  the  lot  of  wage-earners ; 
and  simultaneously,  because  one  great  capitalist  would 
send  many  employers  down  into  the  ranks  of  labor,  the 
revolt  of  the  working  class  would  take  place  rather 
quietly  since  the  "  Centralization  of  the  means  of  pro- 
duction and  socialization  of  labor  at  last  reach  a  point 
where  they  become  incompatible  with  their  capitalist 
integument.  The  integument  is  burst  asunder.  The 
knell  of  capitalist  private  property  sounds.  The  ex- 
propriators are  expropriated." 

But  quite  the  contrary  is  true  for  the  economic  data 
of  the  years  since  1867  is  sure  proof  that  industrial 
development  did  not  take  place  as  Marx  had  predicted. 
The  conditions  of  the  working  class  improved  while  dis- 
content in  the  hearts  of  those  under  Socialist  influence 
grew:  The  middle  class  increased  in  number  and 
financial  power,  relatively,  yet  many  fell  under  the  spell 


352  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

of  the  materialist  conception  of  history:  The  capital- 
ists increased  in  numbers  instead  of  devouring  the  larger 
half  of  their  number,  while  not  a  few  seemed  utterly  to 
forget  that  wealth  is  held  in  stewardship  for  their  Master 
in  Heaven.  Thus  it  was  that  by  a  dwindling  of  re- 
ligious light  in  all  classes;  by  a  lack  of  the  knowledge 
of  genuine  science,  that  revolutionists  were  enabled  to 
leap  over  the  expected  stages  in  evolution  and  take  pos- 
session of  government  and  capital  by  the  power  of  might. 
This  quick  route  is  euphonistically  termed  by  Engels 
and  echoed  by  Lenin  "  a  leap  from  the  kingdom  of 
necessity  to  the  kingdom  of  freedom."  But  justice 
makes  the  way  of  the  transgressor  hard !  so  the  whole- 
sale committing  of  sin,  crime,  debauch  and  lewdness 
enslaves  together  the  innocent  and  the  guilty  in  the 
sometime  land  of  the  Czars.  But  the  end  is  not  yet, 
the  innocent  suffer  free  from  blame,  praising  God  for 
their  fire  of  purification  while  the  penalty  of  guilt  must 
be  paid  to  the  last  jot  and  tittle. 

Internationally,  we  see  no  signs  of  the  abatement  of 
the  demand  for  the  "  expropriation  of  the  expropria- 
tors." The  Commissairs  of  Russian  Foreign  Affairs 
addressed  a  letter  to  President  Wilson  (Oct.  24,  1918) 
suggesting  the  fitness  of  E.  V.  Debs  as  president  of  the 
Socialist  State  that  is  coolly  predicted  to  take  the  place 
of  our  own  glorious  and  free  nation.  'Not  content  with 
the  impudence  of  this  advice  the  letter  suggests  that  the 
world  be  turned  over  to  the  principle  of  plunder : 

"  We  propose  that  the  League  of  Nations  he  based 
on  the  expropriation  of  the  Capitalists  of  all  nations." 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  353 

The  same  thought  dominates  the  mind  of  the  Ameri- 
can Socialists.  In  their  call  for  the  organization  of  a 
genuine  revolutionary  international  it  is  proposed  that 
representation  be  based  upon  a  belief  in  the  dictatorship 
of  the  proletariat  as  by  carrying  this  belief  into  action 
there  comes  into  their  hands  "  the  lever  of  immediate 
expropriation  of  Capital  "  (N.  Y.  Call,  Mar.  20,  1919). 

Let  no  man  think  that  these  millions  of  our  populace 
who  are  privileged  to  vote  may  be  dissuaded  from  their 
aim  because  of  its  being  contrary  to  the  Commandment 
against  stealing  or  against  coveting  our  neighbors  goods. 
"  Fudge !  the  decalogue  again !  "  The  pert  counselor  of 
the  proletariat  replies,  have  we  not  been  persuaded  at 
our  schools,  colleges  and  universities  that  the  Rock  of 
Ages  has  been  blasted  ?  Yet  while  chattering  theories 
come  and  go  and  though  sound  judgment  seems  asleep 
upon  the  bench: 

"  In  vain  we  call  old  notions  *  fudge,' 

And  bend  our  conscience  to  our  dealing; 

The  Ten  Commandments  will  not  budge,  ' 

And  stealing  will  continue  stealing." 

There  is  no  denying  that  the  natural  right  of  private 
property  has  been  thoroughly  established  since  God  gave 
to  Moses  the  Commandments;  that  it  was  enforced 
by  our  Blessed  Lord  throughout  His  ministry ;  that  the 
Church  has  ever  upheld  the  principle ;  that  no  civiliza- 
tion has  ever  been  known  where  private  ownership  did 
not  prevail.  Even  so,  what  should  the  Bolsheviki  or 
the  Mensheviki  have  to  do  with  the  law  of  God,  the 


354  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

rightful  interpretation  of  history  or  the  stricture  of 
common  sense  ?  Surely,  as  doctrinaires  —  nothing. 
While  members  of  the  Constituent  Assembly  they  forced 
through  a  declaration  that  "  the  right  of  privately  owned 
land  within  the  boundaries  of  the  Russian  Republic  is 
hereby  abolished  forever." 

Since  their  philosophy  deals  only  with  things  in  time 
the  word  forever  is  logically  outside  the  Socialists'  vo- 
cabulary. The  best  judgments  they  have  must  be  con- 
fined to  a  human  nature  infinitely  inferior  from  what 
God  gave  to  mankind,  and  confined  to  laws  no  better 
than  the  say-so  of  those  leaders  to  whom  they  delegate 
authority.  Besides  it  seems  not  to  have  occurred  to  these 
little  gentlemen  who  have  shifted  upon  their  own  puny 
shoulders  omnipotent  authority  that  this  very  decree 
leaves  no  room  for  the  operation  of  their  pet  theory  — 
Evolution.  Forever  is  a  word  that  takes  its  course  up, 
down  and  beyond  the  boundaries  of  Russia  or  any  other 
place  that  has  been  built  in  time  wherein  men  dwell. 

In  his  renowned  encyclical  —  Rerum  l^ovarum  — 
issued  twenty-eight  years  ago  —  Pope  Leo  XIII  lays 
down  the  Catholic  law  of  property.  His  Holiness  con- 
demns the  basic  proposal  of  Socialism  that  would  abolish 
the  use  of  private  capital  since  rights  given  by  God 
may  not  be  denied  or  taken  away  without  a  violation 
of  human  nature  itself ;  this  were  against  the  individual, 
the  family  and  society.  Hence  it  must  be  utterly  re- 
jected, since  to  declare  private  property  abolished  "  for- 
ever "  would  most  certainly  injure  those  whom  it  is 
proposed  to  benefit: 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  855 

"  It  is  directly  contrary  to  the  natural  rights  of  mankind, 
and  would  introduce  confusion  and  disorder  into  the  Com- 
monwealth. The  first  and  most  fundamental  principle,  there- 
fore, if  one  would  undertake  to  alleviate  the  condition  of 
the  masses,  must  be  the  inviolability  of  private  property." 

The  very  opposite  procedure  from  that  taken  by  Bol- 
shevist Russia  to  centralize  all  productive  wealth  under 
state  control  is  required  to  fulfil  the  obligation  of  man 
to  man  and  the  "  Workingman's  Pope  "  states  it  clearly 
and  simply  — "  the  great  labor  question  cannot  be  solved 
save  by  assuming  as  a  principle  that  private  ownership 
must  be  held  sacred  and  inviolable.  The  law,  therefore, 
should  favor  ownership,  and  its  policy  should  be  to  in- 
duce as  many  as  possible  of  the  humbler  class  to  become 
owners/' 

Absolutism  in  Lahor: 

It  is  rather  trite  to  say  that  there  never  was  a  time 
in  the  history  of  the  world  when  slave  labor  was  un- 
known, but  the  attempt  to  set  an  entire  nation  at  work 
under  the  conditions  of  slavery  is  something  new  to  our 
day  and  generation.  In  private  industry  the  last  word 
in  efficiency  is  known  as  the  Taylor  system,  where  the 
basic  analysis  of  mechanical  motion  during  work  has 
led  to  a  dismissal  of  superfluous  notions  and  so  reduced 
the  expenditure  of  human  energy  to  the  minimum. 
This  system  is  the  model  set  before  Soviet  Russia  for 
piece  workers  to  follow;  not  under  an  employer  for 
whom  a  man  may  work  or  not  as  he  chooses,  but  under 
the  compulsion  of  the  proletarian  dictator  who  has  the 
Red  Guard  to  back  up  his  authority.     In  America  in 


356  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

a  state  of  freedom  it  is  one's  private  affair  what  work 
one  engages  in,  but  under  the  Soviets  it  is  the  most  im- 
portant national  affair  what  work  a  man  is  set  to  do 
since  the  economy  of  the  Socialist  State  wholly  sup- 
plants the  private  rights  and  preferments  of  all  the 
people.  The  grim  humor  of  it  is  that  this  enslavement 
of  the  masses  "  opens  the  road  for  emulation  on  a  really 
large  scale."  In  the  Soviets  at  Work  Nikolai  Lenin 
admits  the  immediate  necessity  for  the  complete  "  in- 
troduction of  obligatory  labor  service."  But  reflecting 
upon  the  inherent  difficulty  of  reducing  men  —  even 
those  who  have  long  lived  under  the  milder  despotism 
of  the  Czar  —  to  a  complete  state  of  industrial  degrada- 
tion the  Bolshevist  Republic  orders  that  the  system 
shall  be  introduced  gradually  and  with  "  Caution." 
Evidently  it  is  assumed  that  the  loyalty  of  the  prole- 
tariat to  their  dictator  depends  largely  upon  appeasing 
their  wrath  at  the  lot  of  "  freedom  "  that  has  fallen  to 
them  and  this  is  done  by  giving  the  order  for  "  intro- 
ducing first  of  all  obligatory  labor  service  for  the  rich  " 
(p.  19).  However,  since  labor  control  has  been  intro- 
duced in  all  the  industries  and  commercial  transactions 
possible  as  a  "  law  of  the  Soviets  "  the  attendent  diffi- 
culties admittedly  call  for :  "  A  merciless  campaign 
against  those  who  violate  this  control  or  who  are  careless 
with  regard  to  control/' 

Thus,  is  the  dream  of  the  Socialist  realized!  The 
"  wage-slavery  "  of  the  old  regime  is  abolished  by  the  in- 
troduction of  a  greater  variety  of  ills,  under  a  system  of 
complete  national  slavery  that  admits  of  no  redress  save 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  35Y 

that  obtained  by  force.  It  is  might  against  might  striv- 
ing in  utter  darkness,  where  right  is  unknown,  certainly 
it  is  the  penalty  paid  for  following  false  gods :  "  I 
am  the  Good  Shepherd,  I  know  Mine  and  Mine  know 
Me."  Against  the  love  and  justice  that  characterizes 
right  relations  between  the  owner  of  capital  and  his 
brother  freeman,  who  exercises  his  will  to  work  at  a 
specific  task  for  a  just  wage,  is  this  abnormal  scheme 
for  absolutism  in  labor: 

"  Our  gains,  our  decrees,  our  laws,  our  plans  must  be  se- 
cured by  the  solid  forms  of  every-day  labor  discipline.  This 
is  the  most  diflBcult,  but  also  the  most  promising  problem  for 
only  its  solution  will  give  us  Socialism.  We  must  learn  to 
combine  the  stormy,  energetic,  breaking  of  all  restraint  on 
the  part  of  the  toiling  masses,  with  iron  discipline  during 
work,  with  absolute  submission  to  the  will  of  one  person,  the 
Soviet  director,  during  work." 

"We  have  not  yet  learned  this,  but  we  will  learn  this." 

(Soviets  at  Work.) 

It  gives  us  satisfaction  and  delight  to  present  this 
excerpt  from  the  Manual  of  Modern  Scholastic  Philoso- 
phy (pp.  288-289,  Vol.  2)  by  that  great  Churchman  and 
world-renowned  patriot  Cardinal  Mercier  in  proof  that 
the  Good  Shepherd  gives  light,  scientific  and  moral  to 
His  own." 

"To  require  the  State  to  be  the  owner  of  all  land  and 
capital,  to  have  the  entire  management  of  the  production  and 
distribution  of  wealth,  to  preside  over  all  the  functions  of 
social  life,  like  the  brain  over  organic  life,  is  surely,  if  logic 
counts  for  anything,  to  desire  that  the  individual  should  ab- 


358  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

dicate  his  own  will  and  submit  himself  as  completely  as 
possible  to  the  ruling  of  the  State.  Such  a  power  and  part 
cannot  be  given  to  the  State  without  lessening  in  a  propor- 
tionate degree  the  liberty  of  the  citizen.  Every  collectivist 
who  follows  out  his  opinions  to  their  logical  conclusion  must 
desire  the  effacement  of  the  individual  before  the  superior 
unit  which  is  the  community.  If  the  State  is  the  brain  of 
the  body  politic,  the  individual  is  no  more  than  a  cell.  A 
contradiction  therefore  exists  between  the  collectivist  ideal 
and  the  full  ideal  of  liberty. 

"...  The  orderly  and  permanent  working  of  machinery 
so  complicated  as  that  of  the  collectivist  State  would  require 
nothing  short  of  a  discipline  of  iron.  The  officials  appointed 
to  organize  the  national  production  would  have  to  be  given 
absolute  powers.  The  assessment  of  the  wants  to  be  satisfied, 
and  accordingly  of  the  things  to  be  made,  the  allotment  of 
labor,  the  distribution  of  products,  would  all  have  to  depend 
on  the  supreme  will  of  the  State." 

Eree  Speech  —  Free  Press 

At  first  flush  it  seems  that  Socialists  are  truly  in 
favor  of  the  right  to  be  heard  by  those  who  ought  to 
listen,  but  this  is  not  so.  Eor  there  is  no  ought  in  all 
their  philosophy, —  no  time  when  one  ought  to  speak 
and  no  time  when  one  ought  to  listen  for  the  simple 
reason  that  to  them  morals  are  nothing  more  than  the 
fashion  in  manners.  Under  the  guarantees  in  our  na- 
tional constitution,  that  has  guided  us  wisely  and  pros- 
perously for  more  than  seven  generations,  all  our  laws 
must  have  regard  to  the  natural  rights  of  all  our  citizens, 
and  one  of  the  nearest  and  dearest  of  these  rights  is 
what  we  know  as  free  speech.  Our  right  is  to  speak 
and  to  be  heard,  yet,  within  the  limit  of  our  human 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  359 

constitution.  If  we  put  the  issue  immediately  to  the 
touchstone  we  shall  see  that  our  right  and  our  power  are 
quite  two  different  things.  We  have,  it  is  certain,  the 
power  to  speak  evil,  but  not  the  right  to  do  so,  since 
our  existence  is  conditioned  upon  the  absolute  authority 
of  Him  who  created  us  and  gave  to  us  the  law  we  ought 
to  obey.  Here  then  lies  the  crux  of  the  whole  matter 
between  those  who  truly  believe  in  free  speech  and  those 
who  use  the  term  for  or  against  the  moral  obligation  it 
implies  as  a  mere  method  of  furthering  their  cause  on 
a  given  occasion.  The  fact  is  that  free  speech  fights 
give  to  the  Bolsheviki  the  best  opportunity  to  persuade 
the  multitude  that  they  are  persecuted  for  advocating 
what  is  good  for  the  working-class.  So  whether  it  be 
a  plea  to  get  Debs  out  of  jail  or  a  resolve  against  the 
curtailing  of  free  speech  under  the  espionage  act  the 
effect  of  demanding  the  right  to  speak  freely  and  to  be 
heard  without  hindrance  is  all  to  their  advantage  in 
making  Socialist  converts,  since  it  is  one  of  the  loudest 
demands  of  freemen.  But  this  principle  is  to  God- 
loving  and  God-fearing  men  an  inherent  right,  bringing 
the  obligation  to  listen  or  to  speak  as  occasion  demands. 
Not  so  with  those  who  accept  the  philosophy  of  historic 
materialism,  which  makes  of  this  principle  and  of  all 
moral  principles  the  mere  fashion  of  the  times  —  some- 
thing useful  to  play  upon  in  one  case  and  something 
advantageous  to  suppress  in  another. 

We  make  no  apology  for  saying  that  within  the  or- 
ganized Socialist  movement  the  right  of  free  speech  has 
been  constantly  violated  from  the  time  of  its  first  presi- 


360  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

dential  campaign.  Just  as  we  write  comes  a  complaint 
from  the  left-wing  —  which  is  a  large  division  of  the 
Socialist  Party: 

"  We  are  a  very  active  and  growing  section  of  the  Socialist 
Party  who  are  attempting  to  reach  the  rank  and  file  with 
our  urgent  message  over  the  heads  of  the  powers  that  be." 

"  The  oiBcial  Socialist  Party  press  is  in  the  main  closed  to 
us;  therefore,  we  cannot  adequately  present  our  side  of  the 
case." 

"  Therefore  we  have  decided  to  issue  our  Manifesto  and 
program  in  pamphlet  form,  so  that  the  rank  and  file  may 
read  and  judge  our  case  on  its  merits." 

Simultaneously,  while  denying  free  speech  within, 
the  Socialist  Party  itself  is  arranging  5,000  public 
meetings  in  protest  against  the  imprisonment  of  Eugene 
V.  Debs  and  Kate  Richards  O'Hare  on  the  ground  that 
these  persons  had  the  "  right  to  bear  testimony  to  truth 
as  they  saw  it."  Having  mistaken  treason  for  truth 
does  indeed  prevent  these  orators  from  spreading  their 
lurid  vision  abroad  by  word  of  mouth,  but  unhappily 
by  pen  they  still  advocate  a  classless  society  on  the 
ruins  of  the  private  ownership  of  capital.  Much  to  her 
surprise  Mrs.  O'Hare  finds  class  distinctions  even 
amongst  her  fellow-convicts  in  the  Missouri  State  Peni- 
tentiary. If  only  she  would  look  deep  enough  to  see 
that  God  gives  different  talents  in  differing  degrees  to 
His  children  she  might  find  the  absurdity  of  what  she 
seeks. 

The  Gospel  injunction  to  do  what  they  say  but  not 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  361 

as  they  do,  applies  perfectly  to  the  issue  of  free  speech. 
They  say  that  the  Eussian  Bolsheviki  believe  that  the 
press  should  be  the  expression  of  the  people  as  well 
as  the  mouthpiece  of  the  government.  This  is  well, 
but  what  they  do  may  be  known  by  reading  the  Decree 
of  the  People's  Commissaires,  which  forms  a  part  of  the 
Constitution  of  their  new  society.     We  quote: 

"  The  Workers'  and  Peasants'  Government  wishes  to  call 
the  attention  of  the  people  to  the  fact  that  behind  the  screen 
of  liberty  lurks,  in  fact,  freedom  for  the  propertied  classes 
to  usurp  unto  themselves  the  power,  without  hindrance,  poison 
and  bring  confusion  into  the  minds  of  the  masses. 

"  Every  one  knows  that  the  press  of  the  bourgeoisie  is  one 
of  the  most  powerful  weapons  of  the  bourgeoisie.  Especially 
in  a  critical  moment,  when  our  power,  the  power  of  the  work- 
ers and  peasants,  is  only  being  strengthened,  it  is  impossible 
to  leave  these  weapons  entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy, 
at  a  time  when  they  are  not  less  dangerous  than  bombs  and 
bullets.  This  is  the  reason  why  temporary  and  extraordinary 
measures  were  taken  to  cut  off  the  stream  of  mud  and  slander 
of  the  yellow  press  which  threatened  to  submerge  the  young 
victory  of  the  people. 

"  1.  The  following  organs  of  the  press  are  subject  to  sup- 
pression : 

"  (a)  Those  calling  for  open  opposition  to  and  disobedience 
of  the  Workers'  and  Peasants'  Government. 

"  (b)  Those  creating  confusion  by  means  of  an  open  and 
slanderous  distortion  of  facts. 

"  (c)  Those  calling  for  acts  clearly  criminal. 

"  2.  Suppression  of  organs  of  the  press,  temporary  or  per- 
manent, is  to  be  dealt  with  through  regulations  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  People's  Commissaires. 


362  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"  3.  The  present  situation  has  a  temporary  character,  and 
these  measures  will  be  changed  upon  the  introduction  of 
normal  conditions  of  life. 

"  4.  The  printing  of  advertisements  in  periodicals  and 
posters,  as  well  as  the  issuing  of  advertisements  to  kiosks, 
offices,  etc.,  is  now  a  monopoly  of  the  state." 

That  these  decrees  have  been  rigorously  put  into 
practise  is  the  testimony  of  many,  we  present  that  of 
a  close  student  of  the  Eussian  people  and  of  the  Bol- 
sheviki  regime  —  Prof.  Lucovic  H.  Groudys  of  Dor- 
drecht, Holland. 

"  There  is  less  freedom  of  speech  than  under  the  Czar. 
Only  Bolshevik  papers  are  allowed.  There  is  no  freedom  of 
speech  whatever.     Merely  suspicion  brings  death  at  once." 

Again,  the  inconsistency  that  marks  the  course  of  the 
international  movement  in  all  its  dealings  may  be  seen 
in  a  world  event.  While  two  millions  of  our  boys  were 
defending  the  honor  of  our  flag  on  the  fields  of  France 
and  Flanders,  the  St.  Louis  Emergency  Convention  of 
the  Socialist  Party  demanded  tbe  right  for  its  spokesmen 
to  talk  treason  at  their  pleasure  on  the  pretext  of  de- 
fending free  speech.  Meantime,  they  were  defending 
the  Bolshevists  for  suppressing  the  voice  of  all  opponents 
by  confiscating  their  press  and  compelling  their  victims 
to  run  them  in  favor  of  the  red  rule  whicb  they  ab- 
horred. 

To  push  the  matter  home  to  a  final  issue,  would  the 
erection  of  a  "  classless  society  "  —  a  Socialist  State 
permit  of  free  speech  ?     Not  granting  the  possibility  of 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  363 

a  classless  society  the  answer  is  safely  no,  a  Socialist 
State  would  necessarily  he  a  condition  of  industrial 
slavery  for  the  multitude  with  several  classes  of  officers 
under  a  supreme  dictator.  What  use  should  this 
usurper  of  natural  rights  have  for  free  speech?  Cer- 
tainly not  any ! 

Now  that  under  the  segis  of  the  Banner  of  Christ 
the  people  have  at  last  arrived  to  that  state  of  democracy 
that  permits  of  the  right  to  speak  that  which  is  right 
in  the  right  time  and  in  the  right  place  the  Socialist 
regime  in  Russia  should  send  the  mind  of  all  liberty 
lovers  back  to  the  source  from  whence  it  came,  that 
we  may  protect  its  source  and  so  the  expression  of  that 
dearly  bought  freedom.  Under  the  title  Human  Lib- 
erty (1888)  His  Holiness  Pope  Leo  XIII  gave  to  the 
world  a  guide  for  the  defense  of  free  speech  and  a  free 
press : 

"  We  must  now  consider  briefly  liberty  of  speech  and  lib- 
erty of  the  Press.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  there 
can  be  no  such  right  as  this,  if  it  be  not  used  in  moderation, 
and  if  it  pass  beyond  the  bounds  and  end  of  all  true  liberty. 
For  right  is  a  moral  power  which  —  as  we  have  before  said 
and  must  again  and  again  repeat  —  it  is  absurd  to  suppose 
that  nature  has  accorded  indifferently  to  truth  and  falsehood, 
to  justice  and  injustice.  Men  have  a  right  freely  and  pru- 
dently to  propagate  throughout  the  State  what  things  soever 
are  true  and  honorable,  so  that  as  many  as  possible  may  pos- 
sess them ;  but  lying  opinions,  than  which  no  mental  plague  is 
greater,  and  vices  which  corrupt  the  heart  and  moral  life, 
should  be  diligently  repressed  by  public  authority,  lest  they 
insidiously  work  the  ruin  of  the  State.     The  excesses  of  an 


364  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

unbridled  intellect,  which  unfailingly  end  in  the  oppression 
of  the  untutored  multitude,  are  no  less  rightly  controlled 
by  the  authority  of  the  law  than  are  the  injuries  inflicted  by 
violence  upon  the  weak.  And  this  all  the  more  surely,  be- 
cause by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  community  is  either  ab- 
solutely unable,  or  able  only  with  great  difficulty,  to  escape 
from  illusions  and  deceitful  subtleties,  especially  such  as 
flatter  the  passions.  If  unbridled  license  of  speech  and  of 
writing  be  granted  to  all,  nothing  will  remain  sacred  and 
inviolate;  even  the  highest  and  truest  mandates  of  nature, 
justly  held  to  be  the  common  and  noblest  heritage  of  the 
human  race,  will  not  be  spared.  Thus,  truth  being  gradually 
obscured  by  darkness,  pernicious  and  manifold  error,  as  too 
often  happens,  will  easily  prevail.  Thus,  too,  license  will 
gain  what  liberty  loses;  for  liberty  will  ever  be  more  free 
and  secure,  in  proportion  as  license  is  kept  in  fuller  restraint. 
In  regard,  however,  to  all  matters  of  opinion  which  God 
leaves  to  man's  free  discussion,  full  liberty  of  thought  and 
of  speech  is  naturally  within  the  right  of  every  one;  for  such 
liberty  never  leads  men  to  suppress  the  truth,  but  often  to 
discover  it  and  make  it  known." 

Maeitaj:.  Eelationship 

N'ow  that  the  doctrine  of  Marx  and  Engels,  relative 
to  the  family,  has  been  enacted  into  law  by  "  the  aboli- 
tion of  private  possession  of  women  "  and  the  "  socializa- 
tion of  women,"  and  thence  into  practise,  the  ire  of 
decent  people  is  aroused  and  the  propaganda  of  Social- 
ism is  for  the  nonce  staggering  to  regain  its  foothold 
within  the  body  politic.  ISTot  a  few  within  their  own 
ranks  have  recoiled  from  the  consequences  of  their  doc- 
trine in  practise.     Yet  one  must  expect  that  two  atti- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  365 

tudes,  diametrically  opposed,  will  be  taken  at  once  by 
the  American  Bolshevists  in  furtherance  of  their  ob- 
jective —  world  revolution.  This  is  no  new  experience 
for  them  and  hypocrisy  is  the  fine  art  of  their  states- 
craft. 

It  was  vigorously  practised  upon  our  late  Ex-Presi- 
dent, Theodore  Roosevelt,  not  long  since.  Colonel 
Roosevelt  had  exposed  their  attitude  on  the  family  which 
may  be  found  in  every  one  of  their  classics  dealing  with 
the  subject,  but  nowhere  stated  with  more  elemental 
frankness  than  in  Socialism  and  the  Family  by  H.  G. 
Wells.  We  present  an  excerpt  to  refresh  the  mind  of 
our  reader  upon  the  issue : 

"  The  Socialist  would  put  an  end  to  the  uncivilized  go- 
as-you-please  of  the  private  adventure  family.  Socialism,  in 
fact,  is  the  State  family.  The  old  family  of  the  private 
individual  must  vanish  before  it  just  as  the  old  water  works 
of  private  enterprise,  or  as  the  old  gas  company.  Socialism 
assails  the  triumphant  egotism  of  the  family  to-day  .  .  ."  (pp. 
31,  32). 

"  Now,  what  sort  of  contract  will  the  Socialist  State  re- 
quire for  marriage  ?  —  Socialism  says  boldly  the  State  is 
the  over-parent,  the  outer-parent.  People  (under  Socialism) 
rear  children  for  the  State  and  the  future;  if  they  do  that 
well,  they  do  the  whole  world  a  service,  and  deserve  payment 
just  as  much  as  if  they  built  a  bridge  or  raised  a  crop  of 
wheat;  if  they  do  it  unpropitiously  and  ill,  they  have  done 
the  world  an  injury  .  .  . 

"  It  follows  that  motherhood,  which  we  still  in  a  muddle- 
headed  way  seem  to  regard  as  partly  self-indulgence  and 
partly  a  service  paid  to  a  man  by  a  woman,  is  regarded  by 


366  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

the  Socialists  as  a  benefit  to  society,  a  public  duty  done.  The 
State  will  pay  for  children  born  legitimately  in  the  marriage 
it  will  sanction"  (p.  64). 

Against  the  State  as  the  over-parent  and  motherhood 
as  a  trade  Colonel  Roosevelt's  articles  in  The  Outlook 
had  V directed  attention  to  the  necessity  for  maintaining 
the  Christian  family  that  civilization  might  not  perish 
from  the  face  of  the  earth.  From  all  over  our  country 
the  Bolsheviki  came  back  at  him  in  editorials,  articles, 
leaflets  and  speeches.  No,  not  with  argument  show- 
ing any  other  possible  conclusion  than  that  the  family 
must  die  out  once  it  is  deprived  of  its  natural  support, 
namely,  private  property.  But  rather  with  abuse,  for 
Roosevelt's  well  knovsm  integrity  had  added  great  weight 
to  his  words  that  had  struck  a  blow  at  their  propaganda. 

Eugene  V.  Debs  said  it  was  "  sickening  and  disgust- 
ing hypocrisy  "  on  the  part  of  Roosevelt  to  publish  such 
"  lies."  Milwaukee's  Mayor,  Emile  Seidel,  declared  it 
to  be  "  claptrap  utterance  "  published  "  with  a  cunning 
and  deliberate  purpose  of  creating  a  false  impression." 
While  Prof.  A.  W.  Small  of  Chicago  University,  who 
may  not  be  supposed  a  teacher  of  free  love,  was  reported 
as  declaring  "  Roosevelt's  idea  of  the  family  is  funny." 
The  Chicago  Daily  Socialist  named  the  author  "  Cock- 
roach Teddy,"  and  the  New  York  Call  was  convinced 
that  Roosevelt  "  depended  upon  the  spiteful  scandal  pub- 
lished by  David  Goldstein  and  Martha  Moore  Avery  " 
for  his  "  mass  of  foul  lies  "  and  his  "  abyss  of  filth  and 
falsehood."  Yet  more  than  all  of  what  was  set  forth 
by  Colonel  Roosevelt  may  be  found  in  their  classical 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  367 

literature  on  the  subject  and  in  the  conduct  of  some  of 
their  international  leaders,  never  one  of  these  doctrines 
nor  one  of  these  leaders  were  ever  discredited  by  their 
organization  for  betraying  the  standards  of  the  Deca- 
logue intelligently  or  morally.  Surely,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  those  who  so  rabidly  assailed  Colonel 
Roosevelt  are  innocently  ignorant  of  their  long  preached 
doctrine ;  now  carried  out  in  Russia  by  making  the  union 
and  discussion  of  the  sexes  a  mere  matter  of  registra- 
tion. One  must  conclude  that  those  who  spread  evil 
are  doubled-tongued.  This,  too,  is  certain  that  the  fall 
from  Christian  civilization  is  lower  than  the  state  of 
the  ancient  Pagans.  The  private  possession  of  women 
and  property  in  children  may  somewhat  fittingly  belong 
to  the  speech  of  those  who  have  never  known  Jesus 
Christ  and  His  Blessed  Mother  but  never  the  degraded 
animalism  that  lies  back  of  the  twin  evils,  birth-control 
and  motherhood  as  a  trade.  The  "  over-parent/'  the 
breeding  of  children  for  the  state,  prepares  the  way, 
intellectually,  for  the  action  of  the  Soviet  Council  of 
Saratov  in  commandeering  women  for  social  use.  In- 
deed this  was  the  logical  outcome,  since  from  first  to 
last  not  a  doctrinaire  amongst  them  but  holds  with  Have- 
lock  Ellis  that  "  the  reproduction  of  the  race  is  a  social 
function." 

The  facts  in  the  case  were  presented  to  the  Senate 
Committee  investigating  Bolshevism  by  Rev.  R.  E.  Sim- 
mons, the  Methodist  Episcopal  minister,  who  formerly 
represented  the  Department  of  Commerce  in  Russia. 
Several  other  places  followed  the  bestial  example  of 


368  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

Saratov,  Luge,  Kolpin,  Vladimir,  Hovlinsk,  Kronstadt 
among  them.  Saratov  has  a  population  of  some  200,000 
persons  which  by  the  decree  of  the  Council  —  March 
15,  1918  —  was  practically  reduced  to  a  herd  of  cattle 
with  a  ranchman  to  enforce  his  will  over  them.  The 
assurance  that  these  vile  doctrines  were  really  put  into 
practise  so  shocked  the  sense  of  public  decency  that  the 
boldest  proponents  were  silenced  for  the  time  and  the 
doubled-tongued  propagandists  sent  up  a  howl  of  protest. 
But  their  cry  "  Stop,  thief !  "  has  been  too  often  heard 
to  throw  steady  folk  off  their  guard.  However,  it  seems 
rather  opportune  to  state  that  our  challenge  on  this  issue, 
first  sent  out  in  1903  and  again  in  1916,  having  been 
signed  and  sworn  to  before  a  Notary  Public,  the  original 
sent  to  the  ISTational  Secretary  of  the  Socialist  Party,  is 
yet  awaiting  a  response,  despite  the  fact  that  our  chal- 
lenge was  published  in  hundreds  of  papers  throughout 
the  country.  Since  its  argument  rests  upon  scientific 
rather  than  upon  sentimental  or  moral  ground  we  pre- 
sent it  here : 

AN  UNACCEPTED  CHALLENGE 

Boston,  Massachusetts, 
468  Mass.  Avenue 

November  16,  1916. 
National  Office  Socialist  Party, 
Mr.  Adolph  Germer,  Secretary, 

Chicago,  Illinois. 
Dear  Sir:     Our  association  with  the  Socialist  movement 
and  our  study  of  its  doctrines,  as  set  forth  by  its  foremost 
exponents,  have  firmly  convinced  us  that  Socialism  is  funda- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  369 

mentally  hostile  to  the  basic  principles  of  Christian  belief. 
Consequently  no  one  can  consistently  accept  the  doctrines  of 
the  Socialist  movement  and  those  of  the  Christian  Church  at 
one  and  the  same  time. 

In  our  travels  from  city  to  city,  lecturing  under  the  aus- 
pices of  Catholic  societies,  we  frequently  meet  members  of 
your  organization,  who,  through  ignorance  of  the  philosophi- 
cal foundation  of  their  party,  or  by  their  politic  use  of  the 
Socialist  now-you-see-it-and-now-you-don't-tactics  have  taken 
issue  with  us.  They  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say  that  our 
expose  of  Socialism  is  false;  that  Socialism  is  in  fact  the 
further  development  of  Christian  principles  rather  than  a 
divergence  from  them. 

In  order  that  this  most  vital  issue  may  be  made  plain  — 
in  order  that  the  line  of  demarkation  that  logically  exists  be- 
tween Socialism  and  Christianity  may  be  clearly  defined  to 
the  satisfaction  of  those  who  may  be  in  doubt,  we  respectfully 
submit  a  proposal  that  this  matter  be  tested  out  on  this  one 
phase  of  Socialism  —  the  family. 

We  shall  present  evidence  to  prove  the  following  conten- 
tions before  a  competent  committee  to  be  decided  upon  by 
you  and  by  ourselves  at  any  date  that  may  be  mutually  sat- 
isfactory. 

1st.  That  Socialism  assimies  private  property  to  have 
brought  into  existence  the  present  form  of  the  family  —  the 
monogamic  family  —  one  man,  one  wife  and  their  children. 

2nd.  That  the  Socialist  theory  of  the  present  family  as- 
sumes it  to  have  evolved  from  the  time  when  men  and 
women  lived  in  a  state  of  promiscuity  —  when  "  all  the 
women  (in  a  tribe)  belonged  to  all  the  men  and  all  the  men 
to  all  the  women." 

We  hold  that  the  Socialist  theory  regarding  the  family 
rests  upon  these  two  propositions  and  that  they  are  diametri- 
cally opposed  to  historic  testimony  and  Christian  teachings. 

It  is  a  fact  universally  acknowledged  that   Christianity 


370  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

recognizes  that  Almighty  God  established  monogamy  when 
He  created  our  first  parents ;  when  He  declared :  "  For  this 
cause  shall  a  man  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  shall 
cleave  to  his  wife,  and  they  shall  be  two  in  one  flesh."  Our 
contention  is  that  the  evidence  of  the  world's  greatest  eth- 
nological authorities  sustains  the  Christian  doctrine  that 
monogamy  existed  in  the  earliest  known  days  of  the  race. 
That  the  investigations  of  these  scientists  prove  that  there 
is  no  evidence  extant  to  substantiate  the  Socialist  notion  that 
promiscuity  ever  formed  a  general  stage  in  the  history  of 
the  human  race.  Their  express  understanding  is  that  the 
race  never  could  have  outlived  the  degenerate  condition  of 
conjugal  association  from  which  Socialism  assumes  the 
family  to  have  evolved. 

We  hold  that  Socialism  stands  for  loose  marital  associ- 
ation — "  an  association  terminable  at  the  will  of  either 
party " —  thus  doing  away  with  the  "  interference  "  of  a 
third  party  " —  the  Church  or  State.  This  is  diametrically 
opposed  to  the  Christian  law  which  declares  that  a  marriage 
once  entered  into  and  consummated  is  binding  until  death. 
Moreover  an  association  terminable  at  will  is  contrary  to  the 
civic  law  which  presumes  marriage  to  be  a  life  contract,  sub- 
jecting the  parties  to  the  contract  to  its  restraints,  notwith- 
standing that  the  State  has,  since  the  days  of  the  "  French 
conflagration,"  permitted  divorce. 

We  shall  present  as  evidence  in  proof  of  these  fundamental 
differences  (on  the  Christian  side)  the  writings  in  the  New 
Testament,  the  Catholic  Encyclopedia,  the  proceedings  of  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  the  Encyclical  of  Pope  Leo  XIII  on 
Christian  Marriage ;  also  some  writings  of  leading  Protestant 
Doctors.  On  the  Socialist  side  we  shall  substantiate  the  in- 
dictment we  bring  with  the  writings  of  Morgan,  Engels,  Marx, 
Bebel,  Bax,  Morris,  Rappaport,  Meily  and  other  recognized 
Socialist  authorities  whose  writings  on  the  family  are  cir- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  371 

culated  by  Socialist  organizations,  not  alone  in  this  country, 
but  throughout  the  world.  We  hold,  with  your  International 
Representative,  Mr.  Morris  Hillquit,  that  "the  utterances 
and  acts  of  such  writers  and  representatives,  unless  formally 
repudiated  by  their  party,  must  be  considered  as  legitimate 
expressions  and  manifestations  of  the  Socialist  movement, 
and  its  defenders  and  opponents  may  properly  refer  to  them 
in  support  of  their  contentions." 

As  an  evidence  of  our  good  faith  we  have  placed  on  de- 
posit with  the  Federal  Trust  Company  of  Boston,  the  sum 
of  one  thousand  dollars  to  be  forfeited  to  the  Red  Cross 
Society  in  the  event  that  the  differences  herein  set  forth 
are  not  proved  to  be  fundamental  to  Socialism  and  to 
Christianity  and  that  as  a  logical  consequence  no  one  can 
be  adjudged  an  intelligent  Christian  and  at  one  and  the 
same  time  consistently  support  Socialism. 

No,  they  will  not  answer.  They  dare  not  answer. 
To  answer  before  an  audience  not  wholly  or  in  part  in- 
doctrinated with  their  point  of  view  would  retard  their 
progress  and  that  is  the  one  thing  not  to  be  deliberately 
tolerated, —  the  one  thing  that  their  notion  of  morality 
will  not  permit.  Kather  the  public  mind  is  to  be  led 
off  the  scent,  brazenly  by  giving  the  "  lie  "  and  cleverly 
by  an  easy  remark :  "  There  is  no  need  to  get  excited 
over  it,"  even  though  a  "  little  remote  group  of  An- 
archists in  Odessa "  did  issue  a  decree  socializing 
women.  However  severe  it  may  seem  the  fact  is  the 
common-sense  of  those,  especially  the  women,  who  really 
hold  the  Marxian  view  of  marital  relations  are  not  re- 
silient to  the  moral  law.  Otherwise  the  defense  by 
Louise  Bryant  of  what  is  indefensible  could  not  take 


372  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

place  before  an  inquiring  audience  of  3,000  in  Tremont 
Temple,  Boston  (Jan.  3,  1919).     We  quote: 

"  Kussia  is  the  only  country  in  the  world  where  they 
have  solved  the  prostitution  problem.  When  a  woman  ex- 
pects to  be  a  mother  she  is  given  two  months'  rest  with  pay  — 
that  is  one  of  the  things  the  Soviets  did  —  and  in  Russia 
they  do  not  make  any  distinction  between  married  and  un- 
married mothers." 

This  is  only  one  of  the  thousands  of  statements  made 
by  men  and  women  who  have  been  emancipated  along 
the  Socialist  way,  as  Prof.  George  D.  Herron  puts  it. 
Yet,  we  are  glad  to  learn  that  so  loud  is  the  protest 
from  within  and  from  without  stricken  Russia  that  the 
Commisar  of  Vladimir  has  appointed  a  committee  of 
women  to  revise,  or  to  report  as  to  the  advisability  of 
abrogating,  the  decree. 

All-Russian  Constitution  on  Divoece 

With  the  stroke  of  the  pen  Bolshevism  puts  asunder 
those  whom  God  joined  together.     We  quote: 

Decree  on  Drv^oRCE  Issued  by  the  Council  of  People's 
Commissaries 

"  The  Russian  Republic  from  now  on  recognizes  civil  mar- 
riages only. 

"  Persons,  desiring  to  enter  into  marriage,  announce  their 
intention  verbally  or  in  written  form  to  the  Department  for 
Registration  of  Marriages  and  births." 

"  Divorce  shall  be  granted  upon  application  made  by  either 
party  or  both  parties. 

"Divorce  applications  shall  be  filed  with  the  local  courts. 
When  application  is  made  by  mutual  consent  of  both  parties 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  373 

divorce  shall  be  granted  immediately  by  the  registry  office 
where  marriage  records  are  kept,  and  said  office  shall  deliver 
to  both  parties  a  certificate  testifying  thereto. 

"  When  divorce  is  granted  to  parties  declaring  mutual  con- 
sent, the  two  parties  shall  file  a  statement  declaring  the  names 
by  which  they  and  their  children,  if  any,  shall  be  known  in 
the  future.  When  divorce  is  granted  upon  application  by 
one  party  only,  the  divorced  parties  shall,  provided  they  agree 
thereto,  bear  the  names  they  bore  before  contracting  mar- 
riage, and  the  judge  shall  decide  what  name  the  children  shall 
bear.  In  case  of  disagreement,  the  final  decision  shall  rest 
with  the  local  jury." 

Even  this  license  —  marriage  and  divorce  as  a  mere 
matter  of  registration  —  is  regarded  only  as  the  thres- 
hold of  a  yet  wider  latitude.  Bessie  Beatty  points  out 
(Red  Heart  of  Russia)  that  the  "  All-Russian  decree 
regulating  the  lives  of  the  people  incline  towards  wide 
freedom."  Evidently  this  inclination  towards  "  wide 
freedom  "  has  reached  its  uttermost  limit  in  the  stark 
mad  decrees  of  Saratov  and  the  other  Soviets  that  have 
socialized  women.  Yet  the  Russian  regime  of  lust  was 
upheld  by  the  YOO  delegates  at  the  Woman's  Freedom 
Congress  in  New  York  City  (March  1,  1919),  when  its 
Chairman,  Crystal  Eastman,  proclaimed  that  the  day  of 
a  like  society  is  long  overdue  in  our  own  country.  "  We 
will  not  wait  for  the  Social  Revolution  to  bring  u^  the 
freedom  we  should  have  won  in  the  19th  Century.  Vol- 
untary motherhood  is  an  ideal  unrealized  in  this  country. 
Women  are  still  denied  hy  law  the  right  to  that  scientific 
knowledge  necessary  to  control  the  size  of  their  fam- 
ilies." 


374  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

This  was  not  an  isolated  utterance,  but  the  tone  of 
the  Congress,  for  Anna  Strunskj  Walling  was  cham- 
pioned as  she  sang  its  praises  and  proclaimed  herself 
to  be  a  "  romatic  monogamist."  These  are  the  women 
who  are  making  public  opinion,  who  delight  in  spread- 
ing the  information  that  in  Russia  "  divorce  is  as  easy 
to  get  as  a  cup  of  tea,"  and  in  following  up  this  racy  bit 
with  the  supposedly  unanswerable  argument  that  makes 
lewdness  to  be  freedom :  "  Just  before  the  vote  on  this 
decree  one  soldier  arose  and  said  that  he  thought  the 
government  should  limit  the  number  of  divorces  to  three. 
Another  soldier  got  up  and  denounced  him,  saying, 
'  Why  should  we,  who  believe  in  freedom,  tell  any  man 
how  many  times  he  should  wed?  '  So  the  discussion  was 
dropped/''     (Louise  Bryant  "  Six  Months  in  Russia.") 

It  is  with  a  sense  of  deepest  shame  that  we  are  forced 
to  recognize  altogether  too  much  truth  in  what  the 
Newarh  Leader,  Socialist  weekly  (March  15, 1919),  says 
editorially  as  to  our  status  relative  to  divorce : 

"  The  marriage  laws  of  the  Russian  Republic  differs  from 
ours  only  in  refusing  to  recognize  the  validity  of  a  religious 
ceremony  and  allowing  divorce  at  the  will  of  the  parties 
instead  of  after  one  of  our  lewd  and  sickening  divorce  trials." 

Truly,  many  others  besides  Catholics  who  hold  to  the 
Christian  law  of  marriage  may  say  this  is  not  of  our 
doing  and  that  we  know  that  in  the  last  analysis  this 
issue  lies  between  the  Church  and  Bolshevism  for  the 
reason  that  there  is  no  middle  ground  upon  which  the 
power  of  reason  may  take  its  stand.     This  is  but  another 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  375 

way  of  saying  that  the  acid  test  of  the  freedom  of  the 
sexes  is  within  the  law  of  Christ,  not  without,  under  the 
license  of  Bolshevism,  whether  partially  restrained  or 
left  wholly  without  the  curb  of  human  intelligence  and 
will,  as  in  the  case  of  Saratov. 

All  this  were  worse  than  useless  if  it  were  not  for 
the  hope  —  aye,  the  expectation  —  that  those  American 
women  who  hold  strictly  to  the  conviction  that  Marriage 
is  a  Sacrament,  because  God  made  it  so,  will  come  to 
the  rescue  here  in  our  own  land  against  this  scourge  of 
so-called  sex  freedom.  For  it  may  not  be  successfully 
denied  that  the  responsibility  for  the  preservation  of 
the  family,  and  so  of  the  nation,  rests  largely  upon  the 
attitude  of  women.  Our  statistics  on  divorce  place  us 
second  only  to  Pagan  Japan  with  a  stride  towards  the 
Bolshevist  decree  that  is  mentally  staggering  —  too  ap- 
palling for  speech.  By  almost  complete  returns  the 
total  number  of  divorces  granted  in  the  United  States 
in  1916  was  112,036,  or  112  per  100,000  of  the  popu- 
lation, as  against  84  in  1906,  73  in  1900  and  53  in 
1890. 

Moreover,  Judge  Eobert  Grant  has  brought  out  the 
significant  fact  that  75  per  cent  of  proceedings  for  di- 
vorce are  initiated  by  women.  Surely  the  patient  Gri- 
seldas  who  by  self-sacrifice  gave  an  heroic  example  of 
the  sanctification  of  the  marrrage  bond  are  much  needed 
to-day  to  set  the  world  right.  This  were  at  once  a 
suffering  for  Christ's  sake  that  brings  its  reward  of 
glory  eternal  and  a  display  of  patriotism  that  is  high 
above  personal  consideration.     Surely,  women  are  now 


376  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

commissioned  by  right-reason  to  lead  men  back  to  the 
knowledge  that  their  worldly  wisdom  in  setting  up  the 
divorce  court  for  the  protection  of  women  has  led  to 
the  exact  opposite  effect  from  what  they  destined  to  ob- 
tain. What  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder. 

World  Revolution 

Their  first  great  conquest  in  Russia  has  given  an 
incalculable  impetus  to  their  contemplated  overthrow 
of  national  boundaries  with  the  complete  abolition  of 
private  property  and  so  the  extinction  of  the  monogamic 
family,  carrying  with  it  the  notion  of  a  super-state  di- 
recting the  industries  of  the  world,  for  use  not  for  profit. 
At  first  glance  this  scheme  seems  like  an  inverted  model 
of  human  society  as  it  is,  but  there  is  a  difference  not 
to  be  measured  in  words.  In  the  world  as  it  is,  there 
is  a  spiritual  order  and  a  material  order  through  which 
the  life  principle  acts.  ISTow  Marx  himself  says  that 
his  "  scientific  analysis "  is'  an  inverted  form  of 
Hegelianism,  he  is  correct.  One  is  the  top  of  Panthe- 
ism, the  other  is  the  bottom;  and  both  together  do  not 
make  human  nature  as  it  is.  Hegel  has  material  sub- 
stance a  precipitation  from  the  etheric  sphere  and  Marx 
has  material  substance,  the  cause  of  all  else  within  the 
sphere  of  what  is  human.  So  it  is  that  God  is  nowhere 
in  Hegelian  or  Marxian  philosophy.  Yet  the  truth  is 
that  within  God's  providence,  nations  and  families  work 
out  their  destinies  in  time,  but  individuals  have  an  eter- 
nal destiny  that  time  knows  not.     Socialism  drops  out 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  377 

the  human  constitution  made  by  God  and  substitutes 
a  material  regime  made  by  man. 

From  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe  comes  the  propa- 
ganda for  an  all-perfect  society,  for  the  time  when  man- 
kind shall  have  evolved  into  superman  because  of  eco- 
nomic equity.  A  battle  cry  for  world-revolution  forms 
the  closing  words  of  the  Russian  Constitution  —  Dec- 
laration of  Rights  and  Duties  for  Toiling  Humanity : 

"  The  Russian  Socialist  Republic  of  the  Soviets  calls  upon 
the  working  classes  of  the  entire  world  to  accomplish  their 
task  to  the  very  end,  and  in  the  faith  that  the  Socialist  ideal 
will  soon  be  achieved  to  write  upon  their  flags  the  old  battle 
cry  of  the  working  people. 

"Proletarians  of  all  lands  unite! 

Long  live  the  Socialist  world  revolution!" 

The  means  proposed  to  this  end  are  characteristic. 
We  quote  from  the  Constitution  adopted  at  the  5th  AIl- 
Russian  Congress  (July  10,  1918)  : 

"Being  guided  by  the  interests  of  the  working  class  as  a 
whole,  the  Russian  Socialist  Federated  Soviet  Republic  de- 
prives all  individuals  and  groups  of  rights  which  could  be 
utilized  by  them  to  the  detriment  of  the  Socialist  Revolution." 

Thus  coolly  are  rights  set  to  one  side  by  this  egoistic 
scheme  made  by  men  in  disregard  of  the  constitution 
made  for  men  by  God.  The  universal  betrayal  of 
"  rights "  is  emphasized  by  the  head  of  the  Moscow 
Soviet,  X.  Bucharin,  when  writing  of  the  Program  of 
the  Communist  Party  (1918)  : 


378  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

"It  is  the  program  of  the  liberation  of  the  proletariat 
of  all  countries,  because  it  is  the  program  of  international 
revolution.  The  overthrow  of  imperialist  governments  by 
means  of  armed  revolt  is  the  road  to  the  international  dicta- 
torship of  the  working  class." 

It  is  a  notion  pretty  firmly  fixed  that  world,  revolu- 
tion against  the  capitalist  class  must  take  place  before  a 
national  revolution  against  private  property  is  secure. 
Of  course,  this  notion  is  well  grounded,  since  by  the 
rational  animal  common-sense  is  a  hard  thing  to  get  rid 
of,  entirely.  In  his  introduction  to  Trotsky's  book  — 
"  The  Bolsheviki  and  World  Peace  "  (K  Y.,  1918)  — 
Lincoln  Steifens  suggests  the  ridiculous  as  the  logical: 
"  To  Trotsky  the  Russian  Revolution  is  hut  one,  the 
first  of  a  series  of  national  revolutions  which  together 
will  become  the  thing  he  yearns  for  and  prophesies." 

So  also  yearns  Lenin.  He  takes  himself  seriously  as 
interpreter  of  developing  events.  If  only  this  thing  — 
the  complete  abrogation  of  the  natural  law  —  would 
hurry  up  and  usher  in  the  classless  society  before  his 
funny  dictatorship  on  earth  is  over : 

"  An  unusually  grave,  difficult  and  dangerous  international 
situation  exists,  a  period  of  waiting  for  new  outbursts  of 
revolution  in  the  West,  which  is  painfully  slow  in  ripening." 
("  Soviets  at  Work,"  p.  42,  Eand  School,  N.  Y.,  1918.) 

With  empiric  disdain  of  human  nature  as  it  is  under 
the  control  of  an  all  wise  Providence  and  guided  by 
inane  desire  to  show  Marx  as  the  latest  and  the  greatest 
of  all  who  dip  into  the  future,  in  a  letter  to  the  American 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  379 

Workingmen  sent  from  Moscow  (Aug.  2,  1918)  Lenin 
gives  the  history  of  things  to  be: 

"We  know  that  it  may  take  a  long  time  before  help  can 
fcome  from  you,  comrades,  American  Workingmen,  for  the 
development  of  the  revolution  in  the  different  countries 
proceeds  along  various  paths,  with  varying  rapidity  (how 
should  it  be  otherwise!).  We  know  full  well  that  the  out- 
break of  the  European  proletarian  revolution  may  take  many 
weeks  to  come,  quickly  as  it  is  ripening  in  these  days.  We 
are  counting  on  the  inevitability  of  the  international  revolu- 
tion, 

"  We  are  in  a  beleaguered  fortress,  so  long  as  no  other  in- 
ternational socialist  revolution  comes  to  our  assistance  with 
its  armies.  But  these  armies  exist,  they  are  stronger  than 
ours,  they  grow,  they  strive,  they  become  more  invincible 
the  longer  imperialism  with  its  brutalities  continues.  Work- 
ingmen the  world  over  are  breaking  with  their  betrayers,  with 
their  Gompers  and  their  Scheidemanns.  Inevitably  labor  is 
approaching  communistic  Bolshevistic  tactics,  is  preparing 
for  the  proletarian  revolution  that  alone  is  capable  of  pre- 
serving culture  and  humanity  from  destruction.  We  are 
invincible.     The  proletarian  Revolution  is  invincible." 

The  Bolsheviki  of  other  countries  are  also  as  confident 
that  the  hour  is  struck  for  a  world  reckoning.  Mayhap, 
this  is  so,  but  no  solid  argument  can  be  found  in  reason, 
science  or  history  for  the  conclusion  that  this  reckoning 
is  between  wage-earners  and  capitalists  to  the  extinction 
of  industrial,  commercial,  social  and  intellectual  dis- 
tinctions. Rather  is  the  reckoning  between  the  just  and 
the  unjust,  between  those  who  worship  the  golden  calf, 
be  they  rich  or  poor  and  between  those  who  worship  God, 


380  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

be  they  rich,  or  poor.  Thanks  be  to  God !  man  is  not  the 
Judge  of  the  issue.  However,  the  Swiss  Social  Demo- 
cratic Party  speeds  on  the  bloody  cry:  "  We  greet  the 
Eussian  revolution,  and  take  up  the  battle  cry  of  the 
Eussian  and  German  revolutionists,  calling  the  pro- 
letariat to  the  world  revolution"  (Swiss  Socialist  Con- 
vention, Jan.,  1919). 

The  Italian  Socialist  Party,  too,  proudly  takes  its 
part  in  world  revolution.  'Not  merely  by  resolutions 
declaring  for  "  the  establishment  of  a  Socialist  Eepublic 
and  the  dictatorship  of  the  proletariat "  (Dec.  12,  1918) 
but  also  by  acting  up  to  their  party  vote  "  not  to  join 
in  homage  to  the  representative  of  the  United  States." 
Just  as  in  Massachusetts  some  fifteen  years  ago  one  lone 
Socialist  seat  was  vacant  when  Prince  Henry  of  Ger- 
many visited  its  Great  and  General  Court  so  now  when 
President  Wilson  entered  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  upon 
his  recent  visit  to  Eome,  the  forty  seats  of  the  Socialist 
Eepresentatives  were  vacant.  Yes,  it  may  confidently 
be  predicted  that  the  Bolsheviki  will  be  Bolsheviki  to 
the  end  of  their  tether. 

Our  reds  are  not  less  luridly  red  than  those  across 
the  water,  from  crown  to  sole  they  are  Bolshevik  and 
proud  to  say  so  with  their  self-succeeding  presidential 
candidate ;  with  hundreds  of  thousands  of  phrases  they 
echo  their  party's  voice  ''  The  Social  Revolution  is  the 
end  and  aim  of  the  Socialist  Party."  That  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  comprehend  the  movement  unless  one  real- 
izes that  the  urge  of  the  social  revolution  is  not  nation- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  381 

wide  only  but  without  limit  embracing  "  the  wide-wide- 
world."  So  the  all-hail  is  given  to  the  Kussian  Soviet 
as  the  beginning  of  the  much  desired  end  by  the  official 
organ  of  the  Socialist  Party : 

"Eussia's  revolution  is  not  a  domestic  revolution,  but  es- 
sentially a  world  revolution.  Therein  lies  not  only  its  future, 
but  also  its  present,  inasmuch  as  it  is  impossible  to  under- 
stand our  parties  and  their  principles  unless  one  realizes  the 
sharp  division  between  those  men  who  see  the  revolution  as 
a  world-event  and  those  who  see  it  merely  as  a  local  and 
Russian  event. 

"  The  difference  between  the  Bolsheviki  and  all  the  other 
Russian  parties  lies  herein.  The  Bolsheviki  are  the  true  in- 
ternationalists. They  alone  desire  to  see  the  revolution's 
ideas  spread  throughout  the  world."  (The  Eye  Opener, 
Chicago,  Feb.  16,  1918.) 

Their  banners  decorated  with  mottoes  foreign  to 
Americanism  are  carried  through  the  streets  of  our  cities 
and  towns,  loudly  proclaiming: 

"  Save  the  Soviets !  Next :  The  Socialists  United 
States  of  the  World." 

"  Bolsheviki  Forever." 

"  Long  live  the  Socialist  Bevolution." 

"  Three  Cheers  for  the  German  Worker's  Republic." 

"  Lenin  and  Liebknecht." 

While  congratulating  cablegrams  were  sent  in  recog- 
nition of  the  Russian-German  revolt  as  a  part  of  their 
world-program ;  one  from  Boston  to  Berlin  we  exhibit : 

"  Greetings  and  pledge  of  solidarity  on  this  day  of  your 


382  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

proletarian  revolution,  which  will  conquer,  in  spite  of  all. 
Revolutionary  Russia  and  a  definitely  proletarian  revolution 
in  Germany  are  a  call  to  action  to  the  international  pro- 
letariat."    (Nov.  17,  1918.) 

In  its  issue  of  May  1,  1919,  the  New  York  Call 
flares  forth  a  two  column  International  May-Day  Mani- 
festo of  Revolt  addressed  particularly  to  the  workers  of 
the  world : 

"  The  world  revolution,  dreamed  of  as  a  thing  of  the 
distant  future,  has  become  a  live  reality, —  it  has  taken 
form,  it  strikes  forward,  borne  by  the  despair  of  the  masses 
and  the  shining  examples  of  the  martyrs,  its  spread  is  ir- 
repressible. The  bridges  are  burnt  behind  the  old  capitalist 
society  and  its  path  is  forever  cut  off.  Capitalist  society  is 
bankrupt,  and  the  only  salvation  of  humanity  lies  in  the  up- 
rising of  the  masses,  in  the  victory  of  the  Socialist  revolu- 
tion, in  the  renovating  forces  of  Socialism." 

"  Long  live  Socialism !  Long  live  the  Socialist  world 
revolution  "  echoed  throughout  the  country  by  the  hoarse 
cry  of  the  masses  in  the  streets  and  the  cultivated  tones 
of  the  classes  in  the  halls  of  our  cities.  To  the  delight 
of  the  audience  that  filled  Century  Theater,  of  i*^ew 
York  City  (April  25,  1919),  Prof.  Scott  N'earing  lisped 
that  as  "  against  the  proposal  of  a  League  of  Nations,  I 
suggest  revolution/'  At  the  same  time  unctuously  pro- 
nouncing himself  a  "  pacifist." 

With  the  experience  of  the  Eussian  revolution  of 
1905  to  guide  his  thought  Alexander  Trachtenberg, 
director  of  the  Rand  School  Department  of  Research, 
address  to  the  celebrants  of  the  anniversary  of  the  Rus- 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  383 

sian  revolution  (March  16,  1919)  who  crowded  the 
Auditorium  to  the  doors,  was  in  strict  accord  with  his 
fellows : 

"Before  the  Eussian  revolution,  Socialism  had  of  neces- 
sity to  be  academic  in  its  interest,  it  was  not  yet  a  living 
thing."  But  to-day,  "  it  is  not  merely  the  Russian  revolu- 
tion, as  such,  that  we  are  interested  in,  but  all  forward  look- 
ing men  in  every  land  see  in  it  the  guide  and  model  of 
what  their  own  revolution  is  to  be,  and  who  shaU  be  wise  if 
we  learn  from  these  pioneers." 

Besides  the  prose  written  and  spoken  volumes  of 
verse  might  be  compiled  from  the  product  of  those  gifted 
with  poesy  who  are  engulfed  in  the  maelstrom  of  de- 
structible imagination.  This  from  Lillian  Brown-Olf 
shall  suflSce : 

Lusty  Child  of  Revolution! 

Unperturbed  by  Custom's  pall; 
Dauntless  Spirit  of  Rebellion, 

Claim  the  world  and  conquer  all! 

Prophecy 

Not  alone  those  first  in  power  and  influence  but  many 
second-rate  men  have  gravely  set  the  date  for  world- 
revolution.  Marx,  Engels,  Bebel  and  De  Leon 
definitely  fixed  the  time  when  economic  evolution  should 
climax  with  revolution,  like  as  Jupiter  sprang  from 
Saturn  full  armed  into  mortal  ken  so  should  Socialism 
be  delivered  from  the  womb  of  Capitalism.  But  one 
after  another  of  these  exceptionally  gifted  men  passed  off 


384  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

this  physical  globe  long  after  the  dates  they  set  were 
left  behind  in  old  calendars.  Alas,  that  false  theories 
should  distort  the  human  mind,  so  turn  the  heart  against 
its  Maker,  alas  that  the  human  will  should  revel  in  re- 
bellion ! 

The  novelists  add  greatly  to  the  expectation  of  the 
time  when  after  the  deluge  of  blood  "  all  shall  be  better 
than  well."  In  his  "  Iron  Heel,"  Jack  London  sets  off 
a  bomb  on  the  floor  of  Congress  as  the  signal  for  the 
Commune  of  Chicago  in  1918,  that  should  make  pale 
the  Paris  Commune  in  bloodshed,  blasphemy,  terror  and 
plunder.  London's  prediction  was  up  too  early;  so 
also  Upton  Sinclair's  date  is  out  of  date.  Sinclair's 
Industrial  Republic  gives  a  study  of  America  ten  years 
hence  when  the  proletariat  clapped  the  oligarchy  in  jail 
so  easily  that  "  Uptie  "  thought  it  "  a  charmingly  simple 
process  —  I  could  do  it  all  myself."  Yet  America  is 
thought  by  many  of  the  prophets  to  be  a  hard  nut  to 
crack.  Even  in  a  dream  Louise  Bryant  makes  it  one 
hundred  years  before  the  long  suffering  comrades  of 
Eussia  and  elsewhere  may  welcome  American  prole- 
tarians to  the  world  society.  The  revolution  had  the 
fight  of  its  life  since  there  were  forty-eight  kings  of 
our  forty-eight  states  to  dethrone  and  to  send  together 
with  the  entire  capitalist  class  to  the  bow-wows.  To 
send  packing  one  Czar  was  easy,  but  getting  rid  of 
forty-eight  takes  a  long  time. 

However  ridiculous  the  notion  of  a  one-class  society 
may  be  a  prophecy  regarding  it  is  a  sure  way  of  arousing 
the  ardor  of  those  who  have  a  will  to  power  and  for 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  385 

those  who  have  lost  hope  in  the  toil  and  sweat  of  the 
day.  The  time  is  but  near  enough  to  be  in  easy  reach 
of  the  imagination  of  most  ordinary  minds.  Lenin  has 
now  set  it  fifteen  years  hence,  and  it  is  being  soberly 
discussed  in  their  press  and  from  their  platform.  Rev- 
olution realized  is  surely  a  thing  not  to  happen  in  a  day. 
Albert  Rhys  Williams  opines :  "  We  have  entered 
upon  an  era  of  wars  that  will  last  fifteen  years  —  wars 
and  the  social  revolution."  (Liberator,  'N.  Y.,  Dec, 
1918).  The  World,  Oakland,  Calif.,  Dec.  20,  1918) 
has  been  by  newspaper  science  won  over  to  the  side  of 
Lenin : 

"  The  aftermath  of  the  great  war  just  now  in  its  closing 
agonies  is  an  international  Social  Revolution  and  '  it  will 
last  for  fifteen  years/  is  the  prediction  of  Lenin  of  Russia. 
At  first  we  doubted  the  correctness  of  this  assertion,  but 
after  looking  over  the  newspapers  the  past  week  we  have  about 
come  to  an  agreement  with  Lenin." 

We  have  not  the  slightest  delusion  with  regard  to  a 
classless  society  since  our  confidence  is  implicitly  placed 
in  the  economic  relations  set  down  in  the  Decalogue  that 
are  so  freely  and  so  fully  extended,  expanded  and  ele- 
vated in  principle  by  our  Blessed  Lord  in  His  parables 
and  prophecies.  But  since  wars  and  rumors  of  wars  are 
the  result  of  disobedience  to  the  will  of  Almighty  God 
and  since  disobedience  seems  to  be  waxing  with  the 
many  and  waning  with  the  few  there  can  be  little  or 
no  hope  for  peace  until  such  time  as  rulers  are  ready 
to  put  their  confidence  in  the  Holy  Father  and  ask  Him 


386  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

to  adjust  their  differences  according  to  the  love  and  law 
of  human  constitution. 

Violence 

To  take  and  hold  private  capital  by  physical  force 
has  been  their  intention  ever  since  the  Communist 
Manifesto  (1848)  was  accepted  as  their  creed  by  the 
Socialists-Communists-Bolshevists  of  all  countries.  We 
quote : 

"  The  Communists  disdain  to  conceal  their  views  and  aims. 
They  openly  declare  that  their  ends  can  be  attained  only  by 
the  forcible  overthrow  of  all  existing  socil  conditions. 
Let  the  ruling  classes  tremble  at  a  Communistic  revolution. 
The  proletarians  have  nothing  to  lose  but  their  chains.  They 
have  a  world  to  win." 

At  the  Hague  International  Socialist  Congress  Marx 
pointed  out  the  violence  of  the  Paris  Commune  (1871) 
as  typical  of  what  should  be  expected : 

"  In  most  countries  of  Europe  violence  must  be  the  lever  of 
our  social  reform.  "We  must  finally  have  recourse  to  vio- 
lence in  order  to  establish  the  rule  of  labor.  .  .  .  The  revo- 
lution must  be  universal,  and  we  find  a  conspicuous  example 
in  the  Commune  of  Paris,  which  has  failed  because  in  other 
capitals  —  Berlin  and  Madrid  —  a  simultaneous  revolution- 
ary movement  did  not  break  out  in  connection  with  this 
mighty  upheaval  of  the  proletariat  of  Paris." 

August  Bebel  second  in  intellectual  rank  only  to  the 
writers  of  the  Communist  Manifesto  enlarges  upon  the 
necessity  for  physical  violence  and  quotes  Marx  to  en- 
force his  authority : 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  387 

"We  must  not  shudder  at  the  thought  of  the  possible 
employment  of  violence;  we  must  not  raise  an  alarm  cry  at 
the  suppression  of  *  existing  rights/  at  violent  expropriation, 
etc.  History  teaches  us  that  at  all  times  new  ideas,  as  a 
rule,  were  realized  by  a  violent  conflict  with  the  defenders 
of  the  past,  and  that  the  combatants  for  new  ideas  struck 
blows  as  deadly  as  possible  at  the  defenders  of  antiquity. 
Not  without  reason  does  Karl  Marx  in  his  work  on  '  Capital ' 
exclaim : 

"  'Violence  is  the  obstetrician  that  waits  on  every  ancient 
society  that  is  to  give  birth  to  a  new  one;  violence  is  itself 
a  social  factor.' " 

The  Socialist  revolt  in  Paris  1871 ;  in  Barcelona 
1909;  in  Russia  1917;  in  Berlin  1918;  in  Hungary 
1919 ;  together  with  numerous  attempts  to  instigate  re- 
volt in  other  countries  should  be  proof  positive  that  its 
obstetricians  do  not  expect  peace  at  the  birth  of  their 
free  society.  This  is  indeed  simple  —  the  tooth  and 
claw  philosophy  permits  the  fittest  to  survive  merely  be- 
cause they  have  been  able  to  devour  those  who  would 
have  eaten  them.  Robert  Rives  La  Monte  states  their 
philosophy  fully,  though  he  has  not  been  able  to  rid 
himself  of  the  word  moral  as  have  those  more  expert  in 
using  terms  properly  belonging  to  the  materialist  con- 
ception of  history: 

"As  fast  as  they  (the  proletariat)  become  class-conscious 
they  will  recognize  and  praise  as  moral  all  conduct  that  tends 
to  hasten  the  social  revolution  —  the  triumph  of  their  class, 
and  they  will  condemn  as  unhesitatingly  as  immoral  all  con- 
duct what  tends  to  prolong  the  dominance  of  the  capitalist 
class."     ("  Socialism,  Positive  and  Negative.") 


388  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

This  from  Charles  H.  Kerr  ("  What  to  Read  on  So- 
cialism") Editor  of  the  International  Socialist  Review 
is  cast  in  language  "  scientific  " : 

"  As  to  the  means  by  which  the  capitalist  class  is  to  be 
overthrown,  the  real  question  worth  considering  is  what 
means  will  prove  most  effective  —  if  on  the  other  hand  the 
working  class  could  gain  power  by  taking  up  arms, —  why 
not?" 

John  Spargo  has  done  not  a  little  to  prepare  the  So- 
cialist mind  for  violence : 

"I  am  not  opposed  to  sabotage  because  of  any  love  of 
law  and  order,  or  because  of  any  regard  for  the  rights  of 
property.  ...  If  the  class  to  which  I  belong  could  be  set 
free  from  exploitation  by  violation  of  the  laws  made  by  the 
master  class,  by  open  rebellion,  by"  seizing  the  property  of  the 
rich,  or  setting  the  torch  to  a  few  buildings,  or  by  the  sum- 
mary execution  of  a  few  members  of  the  possessing  class,  I 
hope  that  the  courage  to  share  in  the  work  should  be  mine. 
I  should  pray  for  the  courage  and  hardness  of  heart  neces- 
sary." ("  Syndicalism,  Industrial  Unionism  and  Socialism," 
pp.  172,  173.) 

Mayhap,  the  gentle  John  who,  happily,  is  not  so  red 
as  he  was,  though  still  incapable  of  separating  "  tother 
from  which,"  would  not  now  so  strictly  defend  violence 
up  to  murder.  At  any  rate  the  fear  of  consequence 
weakened  the  lusty  arm  of  the  proletariat  at  their  party 
convention  of  1912,  for  they  adopted  a  provision  bar- 
ring from  membership  advocates  of  sabotage.  But  in 
1917,  when  the  world-war  was  on,  this  timid  resolve 
was  by  unanimous  vote  stricken  from  the  Socialist  Party 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  389 

constitution.  Is  there  any  other  logical  conclusion  than 
that  violence,  petty  violence,  is  a  means  to  be  employed 
by  these  class-conscious  folk  who  vote  that  they  may  one 
day  stab  the  State  in  the  back  with  its  own  sword  ? 

Ex-Congressman  Victor  L.  Berger  has  played  a  great 
part  in  putting  the  idea  of  bullets  in  the  heads  of  red- 
flaggers.  Under  the  caption  Should  Be  Prepared  to 
Fight  for  Liberty  at  all  Hazards  was  published  a  bold 
incitement  to  violence  in  the  Social  Democratic  Herald 
(Milwaukee,  July  31,  1909).  It  was  re-published  in 
nearly  all  the  Socialist  papers  in  the  United  States  and 
Canada : 

"In  view  of  the  plutocratic  law-making  of  the  present 
day,  it  is  easy  to  predict  that  the  safety  and  hope  of  this 
country  will  finally  lie  in  one  direction  only  —  that  of  a 
violent  and  bloody  revolution. 

"  Therefore,  I  say,  each  of  the  500,000  Socialist  voters,  and 
of  the  two  million  workingmen  who  instinctively  incline  our 
way,  should,  besides  doing  much  reading  and  still  more  think- 
ing, also  have  a  good  rifle  and  the  necessary  rounds  of  am- 
munition in  his  home  and  be  prepared  to  back  up  his  ballot 
with  his  bullets  if  necessary." 

Mr.  Berger  sees  in  militarism  a  means  of  putting 
guns  into  the  hands  of  the  working  class;  since  their 
"  emancipation "  can  hardly  be  brought  about  by 
speeches  and  pamphlets :  "  The  capitalist  class  will  not 
abdicate  as  easily  as  all  that " — "  When  it  comes  to 
shooting,  Wisconsin  will  be  there/' 

In  the  meantime  the  spirit  of  violence  waxes  strong 
amongst   the   cultivated   Bolshevists.     Bross   Lloyd,    a 


390  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUKE 

Chicago  millionaire,  addressing  a  meeting  in  Milwau- 
kee City  Auditorium  (Sunday,  June  12,  1919)  in  pro- 
test against  the  arrest  and  conviction  of  Victor  L.  Berger 
and  other  national  officials  of  their  party  for  treasonable 
conduct  is  reported  to  have  given  this  wild  advice  to 
the  multitude  assembled : 

"  You  want  to  organize  so  that  if  you  want  every  working 
man  in  Milwaukee  at  a  certain  place  at  a  certain  time  with 
a  bad  egg  and  a  rifle  in  his  hand,  you  can  have  it.  You 
want  to  get  dynamite  and  machine  guns.  Have  men  with 
dynamite  to  blow  up  the  banks.  Have  all  this  ready.  The 
capitalists'  organs  tell  us  if  you  have  this  ready,  you  won't 
have  to  use  it.  Be  a  Bolshevist,  and  a  Bolshevist  in  short 
is  a  man  who  don't  give  a  damn  whether  school  keeps  or  not, 
so  long  as  the  revolution  goes  on." 

Coolly  imagine  the  effect  of  this  intense  excitement, 
nation-wide,  breaking  out  into  deeds  when  the  Bolshev- 
ists shall  attempt  the  lockout  of  the  capitalist  class  and 
insist  with  physical  force  that  all  but  those  who  work 
for  wages  shall  abdicate  their  political  rights  and  per- 
mit the  dictator  of  the  proletariat  to  rule  ?  But  if  they 
resist  — "  Eemember  !  " 

"  Socialists  have  profited  by  the  history  of  the  French 
Eevolution  of  1792,  the  German  and  French  crisis  of  1848, 
and  the  Paris  Commune  of  1871."  (Ernest  Unterman,  Int. 
Socialist  Review^  Vol.  1,  No.  7.) 

Certainly,  we  should  realize  that  violence  is  looked  to 
as  a  matter  of  course  in  the  transition  period  from  cap- 
italism  to   that   impossible   thing   a   one-class   society. 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  391 

The  Class  Struggle  (Dec,  1918,  p.  623)  bemoans 
the  backwardness  of  the  Bolsheviki  in  our  country. 
They  have  not  taken  advantage  of  the  opportunity  con- 
sequent upon  the  indictments  against  their  leaders  to 
arise  to  the  "^  glorious  example  "  oi  Frederich  Alder  who 
assassinated  the  Austrian  Prime  Minister  in  September, 
1916.  The  writer  of  this  editorial  —  Mr.  Ludwig  Lore 
—  plays  a  prominent  part  in  promoting  the  spirit  of 
violence.  He  was  loudly  applauded  by  3,000  persons  as- 
sembled at  Hunt's  Point,  N.  Y.  (April  2,  1919)  when 
he  said :  ''  Bolshevism  is  nothing  more  than  Revolur 
tionary  Socialism..  Revolution  here  may  he  impossible 
now,  hut  revolution  may  he  possible  to-morrow." 

Mr.  Debs  has  emitted  fire  and  blood  for  many  years. 
So  violent  were  his  threats  and  his  calls  for  vengeance 
if  the  Court  should  convict  his  friend  Haywood  for 
the  murder  of  Ex-Gov.  Stunenberg  that  Mr.  Haywood's 
lawyer  warned  the  "  Genial  Gene  "  to  keep  quiet  and  not 
to  come  to  Boise  or  "  Big  Bill "  would  slip  the  noose. 
One  of  the  very  many  of  Mr.  Debs'  lurid  appeals  for 
violence  was  in  1906.  Under  the  title  "  Rise,  Ye 
Slaves  "  he  urged  a  million  men  to  take  up  arms  for  "  we 
have  got  to  fight.  If  murder  must  he  committed  it  is 
not  the  working  class  alone  that  will  furnish  the  vic- 
tims this  time." 

The  postal  authorities  of  Canada  wisely  confiscated 
the  Appeal  to  Reason  containing  thi^  appeal  to  violence, 
although  it  was  permitted  to  circulate  broadcast  in  our 
own  country. 

From  Moscow  (Aug.  20,  1918)  the  Premier  of  Eus- 


392  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

sia  sent  a  Message  to  the  American  Worlcers.  He  re- 
calls with  pride  the  words  of  Eugene  V.  Debs  in  an 
article  entitled  "  Why  Should  I  Fight/'  In  the  name 
of  his  Soviet  Republic,  Lenin  protests  against  the  bru- 
tality of  our  government  for  convicting  Debs  of  treason- 
able utterances,  but  he  reflects :  ^'  Let  them  hrutalize 
true  internationalists  J  the  real  representatives  of  the  rev- 
olutionary proletariat.  The  greater  the  bitterness  and 
brutality  they  show,  the  nearer  the  day  of  the  victorious 
proletarian  revolution." 

Lenin  pays  especial  tribute  to  Debs  for  his  inspiring 
attempts  to  arouse  the  masses  to  resist  war  with  treason. 
We  quote  passages  culled  from  Debs'  speech  in  approval 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Stuttgart  International  Congress : 

"If  I  were  in  Congress  I  would  be  shot  before  I  would 
vote  a  dollar  for  such  a  war. 

"  I  have  no  country  to  fight  for ;  my  country  is  the  earth ; 
I  am  a  citizen  of  the  world. 

"  I  am  not  a  capitalist  soldier ;  I  am  a  proletarian  revolu- 
tionist. 

"I  am  opposed  to  every  war  but  one;  I  am  for  that  war 
with  heart  and  soul,  and  that  is  the  world-wide  war  of  the 
social  revolution.  In  that  war  I  am  prepared  to  fight  in  any 
way  the  ruling  class  may  make  necessary,  even  to  the  bar- 
ricades." 

"No,  they  see  no  hope  of  even  softening  the  fight  to 
the  finish  by  an  appeal  to  religion.  Socialist  leaders  are 
convinced  materialists ;  they  have  persuaded  .their  fol- 
lowers to  discredit  the  motives  of  those  who  defend  the 


BOLSHEVISM  ITSELF  393 

honor  and. glory  of  God.  We  quote  from  Delegate  John 
W.  Slay  ton  (Proceedings  National  Convention,  Social- 
ist Party,  Chicago  1908,  p.  202). 

"  If  I  had  a  congregation,  and  could  make  them  believe 
that  they  who  were  producing  the  wealth  of  the  world  were 
in  the  situation  in  life  that  the  Almighty  Creator  intended 
that  they  should  be,  do  you  suppose  for  a  moment  they  would 
get  up  and  resist  the  conditions  they  found  themselves  in? 
No,  wouldn't  they  be  perfectly  satisfied,  and  couldn't  my 
exploitation  go  on,  and  could  I  not  lead  them,  even  with 
their  consent,  if  they  believed  they  were  occupying  the  posi- 
tion they  were  destined  to  fill?  It  stifles  revolt.  A  man 
ceases  to  be  a  rebel  and  becomes  like  a  young  robin,  willing 
to  accept  anything  the  old  bird  brings,  whether  worms  or 
shingle  nails." 

Yet  there  are  those  who  look  upon  Socialists  as  much 
abused  lovers  of  economic  justice;  who  by  peaceful 
means  are  trying  to  persuade  us  to  accept  what  is  good 
for  us  all.  But  it  is  certain  that  such  do  not  know  the 
malice  in  which  the  movement  was  conceived,  the  un- 
reason on  which  it  is  founded  nor  the  temper  of  those 
who  attempt  to  force  their  will  against  things  truly  hu- 
man and  divine.  We  shall  permit  the  National  Ex- 
ecutive Committee  Socialist  Party  (Chicago,  Jan.  21, 
1919)  to  pronounce  the  final  word  in  proof  that  Social- 
ism in  its  latest  development  —  Bolshevism  —  is  the 
ripest  fruit  upon  that  tree  of  rebellion  against  Almighty 
God  that  has  yet  been  plucked  for  the  destruction  of 
mankind.     Surely  it  is  directed  by  Anti-Christ.     "  The 


394  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Soviet  government  of  Russia  is  so  far  the  greatest 
achievement  in  the  establishment  of  working  class  gov- 
ernment in  the  history  of  the  world" 


VIII 
THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR 

OUT  from  the  sacrilege  and  thunders  of  the  world 
war  the  much  maligned  "  Black  International " 
• —  the  Catholic  Church  —  comes  unblemished  and  un- 
broken. Even  now  ere  the  clash  of  arms  is  heard  no 
more,  ere  the  wounds  of  battle  are  healed,  ere  homes  are 
rebuilded  or  devastated  lands  restored  to  fertility,  long, 
long  before  the  hatred  that  strife  engendered  shall  have 
passed  away,  all  impartial  minds  shall  have  accorded  the 
honor  due  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome  as  the  one  power  on 
earth  that  with  Christ-like  singleness  of  purpose  has 
labored  impartially,  benevolently,  faithfully  and  chari- 
tably to  serve  mankind  all  the  while  endeavoring  to  get 
the  warring  nations  to  turn  their  swords  into  plow- 
shares. The  enemy  too  has  been  ever  active,  ever  alert 
to  twist  the  words  and  deeds  of  the  Pope  against  the 
Pope ;  ever  trying  to  win  his  spiritual  children  on  either 
side  of  the  line  of  battle  from  their  allegiance  to  God 
with  the  pretense  that  the  Church  is  a  stumbling  block 
in  the  path  of  universal  peace  and  social  progress.  Not 
alone  were  the  Socialists  in  their  assault  upon  the  in- 
tegrity of  Christ's  Vicar,  but  it  is  with  this  advance 
guard  of  his  Satanic  Majesty  that  we  have  now  to  do. 
As  ever,  in  its  battle  with  sin,  the  Pastor  of  Chistendom 

395 


396  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

has  kept  the  Bark  of  Peter  to  the  course  that  Christ  our 
Lord  intended. 

The  war  came  while  Pius  X  was  in  the  Papal  Chair. 
His  appeal  to  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  to  avert  the 
clash  of  arms  went  unheeded,  and  the  "  Peasant  Pope  " 
died  thanking  God  for  calling  him  from  the  horror  that 
he  knew  would  follow  the  declaration  of  war.  It  was  in 
God's  good  providence  that  this  Pontiff,  amongst  the 
greatest,  had  prepared  his  children  by  "  Restoring  all 
things  in  Christ "  for  a  severe  test  upon  their  faith. 

Upon  the  elevation  of  Benedict  XV  to  the  papal 
throne  came  an  appeal  from  His  Holiness  to  the  con- 
science and  reason  of  those  who  direct  the  affairs  of  na- 
tions : 

"  We  earnestly  beg  and  implore  them  even  now  to  turn 
their  thoughts  to  the  laying  aside  of  their  quarrels  for  the 
sake  of  the  preservation  of  human  society.  Let  them  reflect 
that  there  is  already  too  much  of  misery  and  grief  linked 
with  this  mortal  life,  so  that  it  should  not  be  made  still 
more  wretched  and  sorrowful.  Let  them  agree  that  already 
enough  of  ruin  has  been  caused,  enough  of  human  blood  has 
been  shed.  Let  them  hasten  to  open  peace  negotiations  and 
join  hands  again.  Thus  will  they  gain  from  God  glorious 
rewards  for  themselves  and  each  one  for  his  people;  they  will 
do  the  highest  service  to  the  cause  of  human  civilization; 
and  as  for  Ourselves,  who  in  assuming  this  Apostolic  office 
have  to  face  the  gravest  difficulties  arising  from  so  seriously 
disturbed  a  state  of  affairs  —  let  them  know  that  they  will 
thus  do  what  is  most  pleasing  and  most  highly  desired  by 
Us."     (Sept.  8,  1914.) 

Alas,  the  world  knows  that  this  call  from  God  also 
went  unheeded!     In  November,  1914,  Pope  Benedict 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR  397 

issued  a  memorable  Encyclical  laying  down  the  four 
fundamental  causes  of  war,  while  imploring  the  belliger- 
ent nations  to  lay  down  their  arms  and  adjust  their  rival 
claims  by  Christian  principles.  But  like  Pharaoh  they 
would  not  listen  to  God's  call  and  sent  their  legions  into 
a  sea  of  blood  to  perish. 

It  remains  for  the  historian  properly  to  chronicle  the 
many  great  works  of  the  Pope  during  those  four  years  of 
terrific  warfare;  the  counsels  and  consolations  given; 
the  protests  and  appeals  issued,  the  marvelous  benefits 
given  without  distinction,  religious,  national  or  personal. 
It  is  to  His  Holiness  that  the  world  is  indebted  for  the 
humane  repatriation  of  the  non-combatants  interned  in 
belligerent  countries.  We  have  a  record  of  97,753 
Erench  interned  in  Germany  and  Austria,  and  10,581 
Germans,  3,105  Austrians  interned  in  the  countries  of 
the  Allies  who  were  returned  to  the  bosom  of  their  fam- 
ilies in  their  native  land  from  Oct.,  1914,  to  March, 
1916,  through  the  good  offices  of  the  Pope.  The  ex- 
change of  prisoners  unfit  for  military  service,  the  trans- 
fer of  wounded  soldiers  to  neutral  territory  —  Switzer- 
land ;  the  lightening  of  the  burden  of  the  prisoners  in 
Germany ;  the  ranking  as  officers  of  Belgian  and  French 
priests  captured  by  the  Central  Powers ;  the  observance 
of  Sunday  as  a  day  of  rest  for  all  prisoners, —  all  these 
good  measures  go  to  the  credit  of  the  Holy  See.  By  in- 
stituting bureaus  of  information  at  the  Vatican,  Vienna, 
Freiburg,  Paderhorn  and  other  places  wounded  and 
missing  men  were  traced.  The  prisoners  were  put  into 
communication  with  their  relatives,  so  God  alone  knows 


398  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CUEE 

the  heart's-ease  given  to  thousands  of  fathers,  moth- 
ers, wives  and  sweethearts  all  over  the  world.  Out  of  a 
purse  greatly  reduced  because  of  the  war,  the  Pope  sup- 
plied the  needs  of  many  sufferers  in  Belgium,  Poland, 
Serbia,  Lithuania,  Armenia  and  other  countries.  It 
was  the  Pope's  appeals  and  strictures  that  gave  pause  to 
the  destruction  of  world  monuments  and  art  treasures; 
greater  still  was  the  service  of  checking  deportations 
and  some  of  the  drastic  methods  of  warfare  that  shocked 
the  sensibilities  of  mankind.  Prospective  benefits 
vastly  greater  were  within  reach  of  nations.  If  they  had 
accepted  the  four  fundamental  principles  for  adjusting 
their  differences  there  should  have  been  a  popular  recog- 
nition that  the  Pope's  rank  is  of  supreme  power  for  good 
in  our  wicked  world.  As  it  is  the  response  to  the  over- 
tures of  His  Holiness  has  been  something  of  a  surprise. 
Millions  of  folk  who  heretofore  had  no  glance  of  ap- 
proval for  the  work  of  the  Church,  have  turned  to  give  a 
steady  look  at  the  Pope  as  he  spoke  boldly  and  worked 
gladly  for  afflicted  peoples  in  lands  reddened  with  blood 
and  stripped  with  fire  and  sword.  Acknowledgments 
have  come  from  governments,  priests,  persons  of  rank 
and  from  private  individuals  expressing  heartfelt  grati- 
tude for  the  Christlike  service  rendered  by  Pope  Bene- 
dict XV. 

The  most  hopeful  sign  for  world  freedom  is  the  re- 
turn of  envoys  to  the  Vatican.  Fifteen  nations  who 
ignored  and  neglected  this  opportunity  to  secure  a  juster 
reign  through  the  world  have  now  accredited  ministers  to 
the  Court  of  Pope  Benedict  XV,  Great  Britain  being  one 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR  399 

of  them.  In  illustration  of  the  appreciation  of  the  war 
work  done  we  present  an  excerpt  from  the  letter  of  Sir 
Henry  Howard,  Minister  of  Great  Britain  at  the  Vati- 
can, presented  to  Cardinal  Gasparri,  papal  secretary  of 
state,  in  the  name  of  the  English  Minister  of  Foreign 
Affairs,  Sir  Edward  Grey,  to  His  Holiness  Pope  Ben- 
edict XV: 

"  Having  made  known  to  the  German  government  our 
acceptance  of  the  proposition  for  the  reciprocal  transport  of 
invalid  prisoners  of  war,  the  Government  of  His  Britannic 
Majesty  wishes  to  express  to  the  Holy  See  its  most  lively 
gratitude  for  presenting  this  project.  It  was  inspired  by 
the  grand  humanitarian  principles  of  which  His  Holiness 
has  given  so  many  proofs  during  the  war  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  Great  Britain  is  convinced  that  the  action  so  hap- 
pily accomplished  by  the  Holy  Father  will  be  fruitful  in  bene- 
fits to  the  numerous  British  prisoners  of  war.  In  renewing 
the  assurance  of  my  highest  consideration  I  desire  to  express 
to  your  Eminence  my  sincere  gratitude  and  that  of  my 
Government  for  the  unwearied  good  will  you  have  manifested 
in  the  affair." 

If  only  the  faithful  were  ahle  to  create  a  world  opin- 
ion strong  enough  in  justice  to  compel  governments  to 
accept  the  one  path  to  ordered  liberty,  the  apex  of  civ- 
ilization could  be  reached.  Yet,  although  rulers  could 
not  bring  themselves  to  accept  the  necessary  basis  of 
freedom  —  the  Holy  Father's  Peace  Proposal  —  Pres- 
ident Wilson,  declining  to  think  it  would  "  lead  to  the 
goal  he  proposes,"  recognized  it  as  high  in  motive: 

"Every  heart  that  has  not  been  blinded  and  hardened  by 
this  terrible  war  must  be  touched  by  this  moving  appeal  of 


400  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

His  Holiness,  the  Pope,  must  feel  the  dignity  and  power  of 
the  humane  and  generous  motives  which  prompted  it,  and 
must  fervently  wish  that  he  might  take  the  path  of  peace  he 
so  persuasively  points  out." 

One  thing  should  be  certain  as  the  outcome  of  this 
war:  that  only  persons  of  crass  ignorance  of  bad-will 
shall,  in  our  day  and  generation,  question  the  civic  in- 
tegrity of  those  who  acknowledge  the  Pope  as  their  in- 
fallible guide  in  faith  and  morals.  Every  country  has 
been  given  the  proof  that  obedience  to  the  Pope  is  a 
guarantee  of  loyalty  to  one's  fatherland  by  Catholics: 
that  a  divided  allegiance  is  foreign  to  Catholic  doctrine. 
Truly  may  we  point  with  pride  to  the  111,000,000  Cath- 
olics who  were  in  the  countries  of  the  Allies  and  their 
associate  and  to  the  57,000,000  who  were  in  the  countries 
of  the  Central  Empires.  We  may  with  a  full  patriotic 
heart  exclaim  with  His  Eminence  William  Cardinal 
O'Connell: 

"  The  Catholic  civil  allegiance  divided  ?  Why  look  across 
the  sea,  to  where  all  Europe  is  in  arms.  Every  Catholic  is 
fighting  loyally,  giving  his  very  life  for  his  own  country. 
And  though  some  of  these  countries  have  merited  little 
gratitude  from  any  Catholic,  still  the  very  priests  are  in  the 
trenches,  each  a  defender  of  his  native  land.  Where  I  ask 
of  any  honest  witness  of  these  facts  under  his  very  eyes, 
where  is  this  divided  allegiance  ?  And  the  Pope  —  is  there 
any  one  in  this  country  who,  after  this  war,  will  ever  dare 
to  accuse  the  Pope  of  interference  in  civil  affairs  or  of  weak- 
ening the  loyalty  of  citizens  ?  " 

Civic  loyalty  is  no  twentieth-century  principle ;  to  the 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR  401 

faithful  it  is  bred  in  the  bone.  Followers  of  Christ  are 
well  instructed  in  the  one  principle  that  separates 
Church  and  State:  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy 
God  and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve ;  Thou  shalt  render 
to  Caesar  what  belongs  to  Caesar  and  to  God  what  belongs 
to  God.  By  a  great  and  well  beloved  Doctor  of  the 
Church  —  St.  Augustine  —  the  matter  has  been  illu- 
mined by  an  historic  event: 

"  Sometimes  the  powerful  ones  of  earth  are  good  and  fear 
God;  at  times  they  fear  him  not.  Julian  was  an  Emperor 
unfaithful  to  God,  an  apostate,  a  pervert,  an  idolater.  Chris- 
tian soldiers  served  this  faithful  emperor,  but  as  soon  as  there 
was  question  of  the  cause  of  Jesus  Christ  they  recognized  only 
Him  who  is  in  heaven.  Julian  commanded  them  to  honor 
idols  and  offer  them  incense  but  they  put  God  above  the 
prince.  However,  when  he  made  them  form  into  ranks  and 
march  against  a  hostile  nation,  they  obeyed  instantly.  They 
distinguished  the  eternal  from  the  temporal  master  and  still 
in  view  of  an  eternal  Master  they  submitted  to  such  a 
temporal  master." 

That  there  are  those  who  will  not  see,  is  as  certain  as 
that  the  facts  are  before  all  eyes,  that  both  Pope  and 
people  obeyed  at  once  the  law  of  God  and  of  Caesar  dur- 
ing the  prolonged  agonies  of  the  war.  Bolshevists  need 
no  instruction  as  to  the  strong  defense  against  the  spread 
of  their  propaganda  and  they  use  their  devil-craft  skil- 
fully. With  a  mask  of  blameless  innocence  they  ask 
why  the  Church  does  not  interfere  with  matters  of  state 
and  stop  the  war?  With  the  next  breath  they  charge 
that  the  Pope  is  usurping  the  rights  of  the  state, —  that 


402  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

listening  to  Rome  is  treason  to  one's  country.  That 
scourge  of  letters  —  George  Bernard  Shaw  —  tells  the 
Pope  just  what  His  Holiness  should  have  done : 

"  The  Pope's  clear  duty  last  August  was  to  excommunicate 
all  combatants  with  bell,  book  and  candle  and  tell  them  with 
a  voice  thundering  through  Christendom  that  they  would  all 
most  certainly  be  damned  for  the  sin  of  Cain  unless  they 
laid  down  their  arms  and  submitted  their  dispute  to  the 
judgment  of  God  through  His  Church." 

This  glib  joke  is  all  of  one  piece  with  Shaw's  most 
brilliant  literary  efforts  to  send  human  souls  to  their 
doom  along  with  the  battleships  upon  which  he  would 
have  workmen  practise  sabotage.  It  is  only  a  vulgar 
bit  of  advertising  to  keep  himself  and  his  wares  in  the 
limelight,  per  order  of  his  master  —  Eebellion.  For 
attacks  no  less  vicious  in  that  they  are  cast  in  serious 
form  one  may  look  to  George  D.  Herron  for  a  classical 
example.  In  his  Menace  of  Peace  (1^.  Y.  191 Y,  p.  84) 
this  father  of  the  Rand  School  enters  into  an  elegant 
disquisition  against  the  Pope.  His  Holiness  is  for- 
wardly  admonished  for  having  missed  the  one  golden 
and  commanding  opportunity  in  centuries  for  proving 
the  disinterestedness  of  the  Father  of  Christendom  for 
the  children  of  earth.  Ah !  occasion  did  not  serve : 
The  Pope  was  already  engaged  by  an  "  univtiUen  under- 
standing "  (in  the  precious  keeping  of  this  betrayer  of 
the  marriage  bond,  this  purveyor  of  scandal)  with  the 
Central  Powers  to  defeat  Italy  for  the  hope  of  regain- 
ing the  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy.     Again  the 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR  403 

Pope's  effort  to  bring  the  several  nations  to  a  considera- 
tion of  those  basic  principles  upon  which  a  just  and 
enduring  peace  may  rest  is  called  a  German  peace  pro- 
posal. The  cause  of  this  alleged  deed  and  double-dyed 
villainy  at  the  Vatican  is,  forsooth,  its  knowledge  that 
"  if  autocracy  perishes  in  Germany,  it  will  perish  from 
the  world."  Dr.  Herron  wrote  from  Geneva  but  Pope 
baiting  is  all  the  same  in  New  York.  Louis  C.  Fraina, 
the  sometime  associate  of  Trotsky  while  in  America,  sub- 
tracts greatly  from  the  well  known  fact, —  that  a  glance 
at  our  own  country  shows  to  every  honest  searcher  after 
truth,  that  the  freer  the  democracy  of  the  government 
the  more  the  church  flourishes.  Mr.  Fraina  delivers 
himself  of  ignorance  or  malice  or  a  combination  of  men- 
tal darkness,  thusly  in  the  New  Review  (N.  Y.,  Sep.  15, 
1915): 

"  The  Pope  of  Rome,  by  tradition  and  sympathy,  is  friendly 
to  Austria  and  Germany.  Their  form  of  government  appeals 
to  his  medieval  conception  of  society,  and  his  hatred  of  anti- 
clerical Italy  and  France  is  a  necessity  of  Vatican  politics. 
His  conduct  during  the  war  has  been  distinctly  pro-German, 
and  any  definite  peace  move  he  might  make  would  be  on 
behalf  of  Austria  and  Germany." 

If  there  were  no  such  thing  as  vindictiveness  one 
might  believe  these  radicals  to  be  capable  of  knowing 
a  democracy  when  it  is  so  perfectly  exemplified  in  the 
Catholic  Church,  where  every  member  is  exactly  equal 
in  honor  when  receiving  the  Sacraments  instituted  by 
our  Blessed  Lord  Himself.     Nowhere  else  in  human 


404  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

association  is  there  an  absolute  equality  in  dignity.  Our 
own  equality  before  the  law  is  based  upon  this  innate  dig- 
nity of  the  individual  soul  and  this  is  in  truth  the  ripe 
fruit  of  Christian  culture  established  in  civil  govern- 
ment. Since  to  radical  minds  lawlessness  is  mistaken 
for  law  they  are  as  certain  that  the  Catholic  Church  is 
an  autocracy  as  that  Darwin  proved  man's  animal  origin, 
which  is  not  true,  and  that  Marx  proved  that  religious, 
moral,  psychical,  social,  political  and  idealogical  phe- 
nomena is  an  evolution  from  man's  economic  activities 
in  supplying  himself  with  food,  shelter  and  clothing, 
which  is  absurd.  Of  course  their  blind  confidence  that 
the  Catholic  Church  is  an  autocracy  does  not  change  the 
nature  of  the  institution  within  which  the  Holy  Ghost 
resides  that  the  Bride  of  Christ  may  never  fall  into 
human  error. 

True  the  Catholic  Church  does  not  derive  her  power 
from  the  people  who  are  within  her  fold,  neither  in  the 
last  analysis  is  the  American  government  an  expression 
of  the  will  of  its  citizens.  It  is  rather  a  fitting  expres- 
sion of  the  human  constitution  set  forth  in  the  Decalogue. 
Since  all  men  are  endowed  with  certain  inalienable 
rights  we  religiously  boast  that  our  government  is  one  of 
laws  not  of  men.  Thus  it  is  that  the  test  of  government 
comes,  early  or  late,  upon  the  one  criterion  —  obedience 
to  the  natural  law  given  by  God.  The  whole  history  of 
the  world  freely  tells  the  tale  that  injustice  is  the  fruit- 
ful and  the  rightful  cause  of  discontent  and  revolt  — 
against  the  usurpation  by  the  few  of  the  rights  of  the 
many,  so  that  men  of  good  will  have  tolerated  bad  gov- 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAK  405 

emment  only  so  long  as  they  were  powerless  to  effect  a 
cure. 

Within  the  Catholic  Church  —  wherein  the  promise 
of  our  Blessed  Lord  abides, —  that  the  gates  of  hell  shall 
not  prevail  against  her  life  to  the  end  of  the  world  — 
no  men  of  good  will  are  discontented  with  her  govern- 
ment. The  seven  Sacraments  are  perfectly  adminis- 
tered and  perfectly  suited  to  all  persons  of  all  climes, 
of  all  times  without  regard  to  condition,  race,  color,  or 
class.  Born  of  whatsoever  people,  of  whatsoever  sta- 
tion in  life,  once  elevated  to  the  See  of  Peter,  the  Su- 
preme Pastor  of  God's  people  is  perfectly  guarded  and 
infallibly  guided  by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Like  to  every  wicked  prophecy  that  the  downfall  of 
the  Papacy  is  at  hand  so  also  has  this  latest  fallen  — 
the  German  autocracy  has  been  overthrown  and  the 
Pope  is  doing  what  our  Lord  intended:  His  Vicar  is 
showing  the  people  the  way,  the  truth  and  the  light. 

Pope  and  Belgium 

The  law  of  Christ  that  the  Pope  executes  on  earth 
commands  that  impartiality  and  charity  shall  mark 
relations  between  the  Vatican  and  nations,  but  nat- 
urally it  is  quite  impossible  for  those  who  hold  the 
doctrine,  that  truth  is  an  attitude  of  mind,  to  conceive 
of  the  dignity  and  responsibility  of  the  Holy  Father's 
position.  Socialists  may  jump  to  conclusions  and  is- 
sue condemnations  without  evidence  as  to  the  relative  in- 
nocence or  guilt  of  conflicting  governments.  Their  100 
per  cemt  good  or  their  100  per  cent  bad  is  determined 


406  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

bj  the  pronouncement  of  the  Stuttgart  Congress  to-day 
or  the  Emergency  Convention  to-morrow  —  it  all  de- 
pends upon  the  opportunity,  as  presented  to  their  im- 
agination, of  what  will  advance  the  Revolution.  Be  it 
an  arbitrary  decision,  in  disobedience  to  God's  com- 
mands or  treason  to  Caesar,  to  cause  civil  war  as  a  means 
to  their  end  —  the  overthrow  of  the  use  of  private  cap- 
ital —  it  is  as  acceptable  as  a  May  morning. 

During  the  war  the  Bolsheviki  condemned  the  Pope's 
attitude  towards  Belgium,  when  King  Albert  and  Car- 
dinal Mercier  expressed  not  alone  complete  satisfaction 
but  reverent  gratitude  towards  His  Holiness  not  a  word 
did  they  say  to  correct  their  error.  However,  the 
thought  of  their  having  contrition  for  the  sin  of  slander 
were  utterly  superfluous. 

!Not  before,  but  after  the  German  Chancellor  himself 
declared  that  "  an  injustice  "  had  been  committed  by  his 
government  by  the  invasion  of  Belgium  (though  the  act 
was  justified  as  a  war  necessity  in  defense  of  the  em- 
pire) did  the  Pope  raise  his  voice  in  protest,  thus  teach- 
ing the  world  that  injustice  has  no  justification.  That 
the  Pope  was  the  one  and  only  ruler  to  protest  against 
the  invasion  of  Belgium  is  a  most  significant  historic 
fact.  Neither  Sweden,  ITorway,  Denmark,  Holland, 
Switzerland  or  Spain  uttered  a  word,  and  to  our  shame 
Washington  remained  silent  when  the  example  of  our 
great  nation  could  have  enforced  the  moral  that  might 
is  not  right. 

Surely  the  world  may  accept  King  Albert's  statement 
at  its  full  value  and  all  but  wilful  clamor  should  be 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR  407 

silenced  by  his  words.     We  quote  from  the  King's  reply 
to  the  Pope's  peace  proposal  (Jan.  2,  1918) : 

"  At  the  outset  of  his  message  the  Holy  Father  took  pains 
to  declare  he  had  forced  himself  to  maintain  perfect  im- 
partiality toward  all  the  belligerents,  which  renders  more 
significant  the  judgment  of  his  Holiness  when  he  concluded 
in  favor  of  the  total  evacuation  of  Belgium  and  the  reestab- 
lishment  of  its  full  independence,  and  also  recognized  the 
right  of  Belgium  for  reparation  for  damages  and  the  cost  of 
the  war.  Already  in  his  consistorial  allocution  of  January 
22,  1915,  the  Holy  Father  had  proclaimed  before  the  world 
that  he  reproved  injustice,  and  he  condescended  to  give  the 
Belgian  Government  the  assurance  that  in  formulating  that 
reprobation  it  was  the  invasion  of  Belgium  he  had  directly 
in  veiw." 

When  to  this  official  utterance  of  Belgium's  king 
of  his  gratitude  to  the  Pope  we  add  the  words  of 
Cardinal  Mercier,  taken  from  his  Christmas  Pastoral 
(1914),  honest  men  may  weep  because  of  the  beauty  of 
holiness  seen  in  Belgium's  well  beloved  Patriot-Cardinal. 
Under  God,  it  so  chanced  that  the  Cardinal  was  in 
Rome  at  the  elevation  of  Benedict  XV  to  the  papal 
throne,  just  after  the  declaration  of  war,  we  quote : 

"  With  a  touching  goodness  our  Holy  Father  Benedict  XV 
has  been  the  first  to  incline  his  heart  to  us.  When,  a  few 
moments  after  his  election,  he  deigned  to  take  me  in  his 
arms,  I  was  bold  enough  there  to  ask  that  the  first  Pontifical 
Benediction  he  spoke  should  be  given  to  Belgium,  already  in 
deep  distress  through  the  war.  He  eagerly  closed  with  my 
wish,  which  I  knew  would  also  be  yours." 


408  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

Again,  in  a  pastoral  (April  25,  1915)  Cardinal  Mer- 
cier  makes  an  explicit  defense  of  the  Pope  against  the 
ignominy  that  such  men  as  Herron  and  Fraina  would 
put  upon  the  Shepherd  of  the  Christian  flock: 

"  From  the  beginning  of  the  war  certain  cunning,  evil,  and 
treacherous  minds  have  persisted  in  encouraging  the  rumor 
that  the  late  Pope,  Pius  X,  and  our  Holy  Father  Benedict 
XV,  gave  help  and  moral  approval  to  our  enemies,  and, 
through  weakness,  did  an  injustice  to  the  rights  of  the  Bel- 
gian people.  These  are  calumnies,  my  Brethren  —  nothing 
but  infamous  cal\unnies.  The  simple,  loving,  generous  heart 
of  Pius  X  was  incapable,  I  will  not  say  of  any  cowardice,  but 
of  so  much  as  the  appearance  of  an  accommodation  with  in- 
justice, even  though  it  were  triumphant.  The  truth  is  that 
the  noble  old  man  succumbed  to  the  grief  that  overcame  him, 
when  he  saw  the  European  nations  rent  by  murderous  war, 
and  Providence  left  him  no  time  to  express  in  public  the 
holy  horror  these  orgies  of  blood  inspired  in  him. 

"  As  for  our  Holy  Father,  Pope  Benedict  XV,  what  could 
he  do  for  the  Belgians  that  he  had  not  done?  His  very  first 
Pontifical  blessing  was  for  us,  and  he  charged  me  to  bring  it 
to  you  in  his  name.  On  two  occasions  he  was  good  enough 
to  send  generous  donations  to  Belgium,  in  spite  of  the  poverty 
of  his  resources.  In  his  fatherly  goodness  he  addressed  to 
us  two  letters  of  consolation  designed  for  you.  Add  to  this 
his  resolute  and  noble  Consistorial  Allocution  of  the  22nd  of 
January;  his  answers  to  the  telegrams  of  the  King  and  the 
•Government;  that  to  M.  Van  den  Heuvel;  the  support  he 
:afforded  us  through  his  Apostolic  Nuncio  in  Brussels  .  .  ." 

Since  Cardinal  Mercier  gives  praise  to  the  "  fatherly 
goodness  "  of  the  Pope  towards  Belgium,  Catholics  in 
all  the  nations  on  both  sides  of  the  conflict  are  in  admira- 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAK  409 

tion  of  His  Holiness  for  being  at  once  strictly  impar- 
tial as  between  nation  and  nation  and  responding  to  the 
claims  of  justice  as  between  nation  and  nation.  Every 
good  father  understands  this  principle  for  thus  it  is  that 
he  means  to  deal  with  his  sons. 


The  Pope  and  Italy 

The  assertion  that  the  Pope  had  an  "  unwritten  un- 
derstanding "  with  the  Central  Powers  conniving  at  the 
defeat  of  Italy  for  the  restoration  of  the  temporal  power, 
is  as  far  from  the  truth  as  the  story  of  the  Pope's  hos- 
tility towards  Belgium ;  only  those  utterly  lacking  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  integrity  of  the  Papacy  or  those 
playing  high  stakes  with  the  devil  for  world  power 
would  be  guilty  of  the  accusation.  Of  course,  every 
Catholic  worthy  of  that  great  title  believes  in  the  res- 
toration of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Holy  See.  To  this 
no  true  patriot  of  any  nation  under  the  sun  can  right- 
fully object,  since  by  temporal  power  is  meant  that  the 
Pope  should  be  free  from  the  temporal  rule  of  another. 
Territory  all  his  own  is  necessary  so  that  the  Pope  may 
rule  over  his  spiritual  kingdom  in  the  whole  world  un- 
disturbed. Just  as  Washington,  D.  C,  our  Federal  ter- 
ritory is  independent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  any  State  and 
so  free  from  the  jurisdiction  of  our  48  States,  just  so 
in  idea  is  it  that  the  spiritual  government  of  the  Pope 
should  be  territorially  free  from  the  restrictions  of  any 
nation.  The  war  has  made  the  necessity  for  papal  free- 
dom plain  to  many  persons  who  had  not  seen  it  before. 


410  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

While  the  Law  of  Guarantees  affirms  that  Ambassadors 
of  foreign  nations  at  the  Vatican  shall  have  the  same 
rights  and  immunities  as  the  representatives  of  foreign 
powers  at  the  Quirinal  this  is  not  enough.  It  is  not  that 
our  Federal  Government  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  has 
the  same  rights  as  Maine,  Virginia  and  California  but 
rather  that  Washington  is  independent  of  the  right  of 
these  and  all  others  of  the  48  States  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  our  Eederal  powers.  During  the  war  the 
Ambassadors  of  the  Central  Empires  withdrew  from 
the  Court  of  the  Pope,  not  because  Italy  demanded  it  but 
as  they  believed  "  in  order  to  safeguard  their  personal 
dignity  and  the  prerogatives  of  their  office."  Upon  the 
withdrawal  of  these  envoys  from  the  Vatican  Benedict 
XV  pointed  out  the  injustice  of  the  Pope's  position : 

"  This  means  to  the  Holy  See  the  loss  of  a  right  which 
is  its  due,  and  of  its  nature  belongs  to  it  as  a  necessary 
guarantee  of  its  freedom.  .  .  .  And  what  are  We  to  say  of 
the  increasing  difficulty  of  commimication  between  Us  and 
the  Catholic  world,  through  which  it  has  become  no  easy 
matter  to  form  that  complete  and  accurate  judgment  ou 
events  which  is  of  such  importance?"  (Allocution,  Dec.  6, 
1915.) 

While  the  cabal  —  resting  upon  the  "  unwritten 
understanding  " —  was  at  its  height  the  Italian  gov- 
ernment itself  may  certainly  be  trusted  to  estimate 
adequately  the  status  of  Catholic  loyalty  in  its  king- 
dom. The  Prime  Minister  in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies 
on  the  24th  of  December,  1917,  bespoke  the  public 
opinion  of  Italy  in  no  uncertain  tones : 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAK  411 

"I  deplore  the  accusations  of  a  general  character  made 
against  high  ecclesiastical  personages  —  acciisations  that  tend 
to  hurt  the  supreme  spiritual  authority  —  against  priests 
and  against  the  Catholic  laity.  Such  accusations  are  unjust 
and  offensive  because,  as  the  public  are  aware,  the  Italian 
clergy,  both  high  and  low,  have  given  noble  and  beautiful 
proofs  of  Italian  sentiments,  and  the  great  mass  of  the 
Catholics  have  known  how  to  reconcile  the  dictates  of  faith 
with  their  duties  toward  their  country." 

It  should  not  be  thought  that  there  was  a  change  of 
heart  on  the  part  of  the  Bolsheviki,  even  in  Italy.  There 
was  merely  a  change  of  attack  upon  right  and  justice. 
Indeed  the  Socialism  in  Italy  is  of  the  extreme  left 
wing  type,  where  treason  is  accounted  heroism.  Beyond 
any  treasonable  acts  we  have  thus  far  recorded  the  Ital- 
ians have  carried  out  the  counsel  of  the  Stuttgart  Inter- 
national Socialist  Congress  of  1907.  After  the  Italian 
disaster  at  Caporetto  (Oct.-Nov.,  1917)  the  Bolsheviki 
attempted  to  lay  at  the  door  of  the  priests  in  the  army 
the  breaking  down  of  the  morale  of  the  troops  for  which 
they,  themselves,  were  responsible.  They  were  con- 
fronted with  the  evidence  of  their  treason  by  Deputy 
Marquis  Centurione.  He  had  been  accused  by  the  So- 
cialists in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  for  spying  upon 
them. 

We  quote  from  Deputy  Centurione's  reply : 

"  Yes,  it  is  true  I  spied  oA'  the  Socialists,  being  convinced 
that  the  responsibility  for  the  Caporetto  disaster  rested  upon 
them,  and  that  they  also  incited  the  Turin  riots.  I  dis- 
guised myself  as  a  workingman  in  order  to  attend  Socialist 
meetings.     As  the  result  of  my  work  I  can  now  state  that 


412  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

the  Socialists  did  prepare  the  Caporetto  disaster.  Conse- 
quently I  formally  charge  with  treason  ex-Premier  Giolitti, 
Deputy  Falcioni,  Under-Secretary  in  the  last  Giolitti  Cabi- 
net; Socialist  Deputies  Sciorati,  and  Dogiovanni,  Deputy 
Chiaraviglio  [Giolitti's  son-in-law],  and  Senator  Panizzardi, 
Senator   Cofaly,    and    Senator   Frassati." 

However,  there  is  testimony  as  strong  from  the  Social- 
ists themselves  that  they  are  responsible  for  breaking 
down  the  morale  of  the  troops  at  Caporetto.  We  in- 
stance the  boasting  of  Arturo  Giovannitti  before  600 
college  men  and  women  at  the  Annual  Convention  of  the 
Inter-Collegiate  Socialist  Society: 

"  The  retreat  of  the  Austrians  in  1918  occurred  just  a 
year  following  the  retreat  of  the  Italians.  On  the  former 
occasion,  everything  had  been  prepared  on  the  Italian  and 
Austrian  lines  for  a  joint  strike  of  the  soldiers.  However, 
shock  troops  had  the  night  before  the  proposed  strike  been 
substituted  for  the  Austrian  troops  in  the  Austrian  lines 
and  when  the  Italian  troops  laid  down  their  arms  they 
were  confronted  with  the  aggressive  shock  troops  of  the 
Kaiser."  (The  Inter-Collegiate  Socialist,  N.  Y.,  Feb.-Mar., 
1919,  p.  25.) 

As  thoughtful  men  scan  the  horizon  of  life  and  look 
back  over  the  testimony  of  nations  past  and  gone,  they 
see  that  loyalty  to  country  rests  securely  upon  the  jus- 
tice of  the  State :  that  human  justice  is  a  basic  manifes- 
tation of  love  for  and  obedience  to  Almighty  God. 
So  that  it  is  plain  enough  that  as  religious  teaching  and 
practise  are  the  sure  guarantee  of  the  safety  of  nations, 
the  most  deadly  assault  upon  the  country  is  that  first 


THE  POPE  AND  THE  WAR  413 

leveled  upon  religion.  What  then  but  all  hail  to 
the  Pope  should  be  expected  from  those  who  love  and 
would  serve  their  native  land? 

"  Long  live  the  Pope !     His  praises  sound 

Again  and  yet  again: 

His  rule  is  over  space  and  time ; 

His  throne  the  hearts  of  men : 

All  hail!   the  Shepherd  King  of  Kome, 

The  theme  of  loving  song: 

Let  all  the  earth  his  glory  sing, 

And  heav'n  the  strain  prolong," 

All  to  the  contrary,  notwithstanding,  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  world-war  until  the  signing  of  the  Armi- 
stice, the  Pope  with  more  than  royal  dignity  has  treated 
all  the  nations  and  all  the  races  of  whatsoever  religions 
or  political  views  more  impartially  than  the  best  of  fa- 
thers are  able  to  treat  their  own  sons,  for  the  sufficient 
reason  that  the  Holy  Ghost  abides  within  the  Church. 
While  upon  the  call  of  the  Holy  Father,  millions  of  pe- 
titions to  Almighty  God  in  favor  of  justice  at  the  Peace 
Congress  was  sent  up  by  the  faithful  all  over  the  world : 

"...  in  order  that  the  fruit  of  the  approaching  congress 
may  be  that  great  gift  from  heaven,  which  is  true  peace 
founded  upon  the  Christian  principles  of  justice,  it  will 
be  your  care  to  announce  public  prayers  in  each  parish  of 
your  respective  dioceses  in  that  form  which  you  will  con- 
sider timely,  to  implore  for  it  the  light  of  the  Heavenly 
Father. 

"  As  far  as  We,  Ourselves,  are  concerned,  representing, 
however  unworthily,  Jesus  Christ,  the  King  of  Peace,  We 


414  BOLSHEVISM:  ITS  CURE 

shall  use  all  the  influence  of  Our  apostolic  ministry  so  that 
the  decisions  that  may  be  arrived  at  for  the  purpose  of 
perpetuating  tranquillity,  good  order  and  concord  in  the  world 
may  be  accepted  and  faithfully  followed  everywhere  by  Cath- 
olics."    (Dec.  1,  1918.) 

Catholics  everywhere  will  follow  the  instruction  of 
their  Spiritual  father,  working  faithfully  and  praying 
ardently  for  peace  on  earth.  They  know  that  there  is 
no  otherwhere  to  go  save  to  Rome,  to  the  Pope,  to 
Christ's  Vicar,  to  learn  how  precisely  to  apply  God's 
law  to  every-day  affairs.  There  on  the  throne  of  the 
fisherman  is  found  the  divine  interpretation  of  the  law 
of  justice  as  it  applies  to  the  relations  of  nation  to  na- 
tion :  There  is  made  known  what  things  belong  to  God 
and  what  things  belong  to  Caesar. 

If  forgetful  of  the  love  of  God  in  the  love  of  country, 
one  may  well  take  heed : 

Unless  the  Lord  huild  the  house. 
They  labor  in  vain  that  build  it. 


THE   END 


/0$9lJ' 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  JBRAR'  EACILITY 


A     000  724  843 


xirxxmiiacsx; 


